ES2333071T5 - Neisseria meningitidis antigens - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides proteins from Neisseria meningitidis (strains A & B), including amino acid sequences, the corresponding nucleotide sequences, expression data, and serological data. The proteins are useful antigens for vaccines, immunogenic compositions, and/or diagnostics.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Neisseria meningitidis antigens

The present invention relates to antigens of the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis.

Background

5 Neisseria meningitidis is a non-mobile, gram-negative, pathogenic diplococcus in humans. Colonizes the pharynx, causing meningitis and, occasionally, septicemia in the absence of meningitis. It is closely related to N. gonorrhoeae, although a characteristic that clearly differentiates meningococci from gonococci is the presence of a polysaccharide capsule that is present in all pathogenic meningococci.

N. meningitidis causes both endemic and epidemic disease. In the United States, the attack rate is

10 0.6-1 per 100,000 people per year, and may be much higher during outbreaks (see Lieberman et al., (1996) Safety and Immunogenicity of a Serogroups A / C Neisseria meningitidis Oligosaccharide-Protein Conjugate Vaccine in Young Children JAMA 275 (19): 1499-1503; Schuchat et al., (1997) Bacterial Meningitis in the United States in 1995. N Engl J Med 337 (14): 970-976). In developing countries, the rates of endemic disease are much higher and during epidemic cases the incidence rates can reach up to 500 cases per

15 per 100,000 people a year. Mortality is extremely high, 10-20% in the United States and much higher in developing countries. Following the introduction of the Haemophilus influenzae conjugate vaccine, N. meningitidis is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis at all ages in the United States (Schuchat et al. (1997) cited above).

Based on the capsular polysaccharide of the organism, 12 serogroups of N. meningitidis have been identified. The group

20 A is the pathogen most often involved in epidemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Serogroups B and C are responsible for the vast majority of cases in the United States and in most developed countries. Serogroups W135 and Y are responsible for the rest of the cases in the United States and developed countries. The meningococcal vaccine currently used is a tetravalent polysaccharide vaccine consisting of serogroups A, C, Y and W135. Although effective in adolescents and adults, it induces an immune response

25 poor and short duration of protection, and cannot be used in infants [eg, Morbidity and Mortality weekly report, Vol. 46, No. RR-5 (1997)]. This is because polysaccharides are antigens independent of T cells that induce a weak immune response that cannot be reinforced by repeated immunization. After the success of vaccination against H. influenzae, conjugate vaccines against serogroups A and C have been developed and are in the final stage of the clinical trial (Zollinger WD “New and Improved Vaccines Against

30 Meningococcal Disease ”in: New Generation Vaccines, cited above, p. 469-488; Lieberman et al. (1996) cited above; Costantino et al. (1992) Development and phase I clinical testing of a conjugate vaccine against meningococcus A and C. Vaccine 10: 691-698).

However, meningococcus B remains a problem. This serotype is currently responsible for approximately 50% of all meningitis in the United States, Europe, and South America. The polysaccharide approach cannot be used because the menB capsular polysaccharide is an N-acetyl neuraminic acid polymer with α (2-8) bonds that is also present in mammalian tissue. This results in antigen tolerance; in fact, if an immune response were elicited, it would be autoimmune, and, therefore, would not be desirable. To prevent induction of autoimmunity and induce a protective immune response, for example, the capsular polysaccharide has been chemically modified by replacing the N-acetyl groups.

40 by N-propionyl groups, leaving specific antigenicity unchanged (Romero & Outschoorn (1994) Current status of Meningococcal group B vaccine candidates: capsular or non-capsular? Clin Microbiol Rev 7 (4): 559-575).

Alternative approaches to menB vaccines have used complex mixtures of outer membrane proteins (PME), which contained either single PMEs or PMEs enriched with porins or with a deletion in class 4 PMEs that are believed to induce antibodies that block bactericidal activity. This approach produces 45 vaccines that are not well characterized. These are capable of protecting against the homologous strain, but they are not effective in general, since there are many antigenic variants of the outer membrane proteins. To overcome antigenic variability, multivalent vaccines have been constructed containing up to nine different porins (for example, Poolman JT (1992) Development of a meningococcal vaccine. Infect. Agents Dis, 4: 13-28). The additional proteins to be used in outer membrane vaccines have been the opa and opc proteins,

50 but none of these approaches has been able to overcome antigenic variability (for example, Ala'Aldeen and Borriello (1996) The meningococcal transferrin-binding proteins 1 and 2 are both surface exponed and generate bactericidal antibodies capable of killing nomologous and heterologous strains Vaccine 14 (1): 49-53).

For the genes and proteins of gonococci and meningococci, a certain amount of sequence data is available (for example, EP-A-0467714, WO 96/29412), although it is by no means complete. 55 The provision of additional sequences could provide an opportunity to identify secreted or exposed surface proteins that are presumed targets for the immune system and that are not antigenically variable. For example, some of the proteins identified could be components of vaccines effective against meningococci B, some could be components of vaccines against all serotypes of meningococci and others

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they could be vaccine components against all meningococcal serotypes, and others could be vaccine components against all pathogenic Neisseriae.

WO 99/3113 discloses a Neisseria meningitidis surface polypeptide called "HiaNm". The polypeptide has the following amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 7 herein):

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Certain content related to HiaNm is disclosed in this document.

Example 2 of WO 99/31132 reports that HiaNm is a homologue to hia and hsf of Haemophilus influenzae, as disclosed in WO 96/30519.

The invention

The invention provides proteins comprising the amino acid sequences of N. meningitidis described in the example.

It also provides proteins comprising homologous sequences (i.e., having sequence identity) to the amino acid sequences of N. meningitidis SEQ ID NO: 2 and 4 disclosed in the examples. The degree of sequence identity is 80% or more; or, for SEQ ID NO: 4, of 95% or more. These proteins

15 homologs include mutants and allelic variants of the sequences disclosed in the example. Typically, an identity of 50% or more between two proteins is considered to be an indication of functional equivalence. Preferably, the identity between proteins is determined by the Smith-Waterman homology search algorithm as implemented in the MPSRCH program (Oxford Molecular), using a search for related gaps with open hole penalty parameters = 12 and extension penalty of hole = 1.

The invention additionally provides proteins comprising amino acid sequence fragments of

N. meningitidis SEQ ID NO: 2 disclosed in the example. The fragments must comprise at least 20 consecutive amino acids of SEQ ID NO: 2 and comprise an epitope of the sequence.

The proteins of the invention can, of course, be prepared by various means (for example recombinant expression, purification from cell culture, chemical synthesis, etc.) and in various forms (for example native,

25 mergers, etc.). Preferably, they are prepared in a substantially pure or isolated manner (ie, substantially free of other N. meningitidis proteins or host cells).

According to a further aspect, the invention provides antibodies that bind to these proteins. These can be polyclonal or monoclonal and can be produced by any suitable means.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides nucleic acid encoding proteins and fragments of

30 protein of the invention. According to a further aspect, the invention provides nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequences of N. meningitidis SEQ ID NO: 3 and 5 disclosed in the example.

These will comprise at least n consecutive nucleotides of the sequences of N. meningitidis SEQ ID NO: 3 and 5, in which n is 10 or more (for example, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 or more)

Nucleic acids may comprise sequences complementary to those described above (for example, for antisense or probing purposes).

The nucleic acid according to the invention can, of course, be prepared in many ways (for example, by chemical synthesis, from genomic libraries or cDNA, from the organism itself, etc.) and can take various forms (by example, single chain, double chain, vectors, probes, etc.).

In addition, the term "nucleic acid" includes DNA and RNA, and also their analogs, such as those containing 40 modified structures, and also peptide nucleic acids (APN) etc.

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According to a further aspect, the invention provides vectors comprising nucleotide sequences of the invention (eg, expression vectors) and host cells transformed with such vectors.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides compositions comprising protein, antibody and / or nucleic acid according to the invention. These compositions may be suitable as vaccines, for example, or as diagnostic reagents or as immunogenic compositions.

The invention also provides nucleic acid, protein or antibody according to the invention for use as medicaments (for example, as vaccines) or as diagnostic reagents. It also provides the use of a nucleic acid, protein or antibody according to the invention in the manufacture of: (i) a medicament for treating or preventing infection by Neisseria bacteria, preferably N. meningitidis, especially strain A, the

10 strain B or strain C.

According to additional aspects, the invention provides various methods.

A method for producing proteins of the invention is provided, which comprises the step of culturing a host cell according to the invention under conditions that induce protein expression.

Unlike the sequences disclosed in WO 99/24578, it is believed that the sequences given to

15 know in the present application they have no significant homologue in N. gonorrhoeae. Accordingly, the sequences of the present invention also find use in the preparation of reagents to distinguish between N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae.

The following is a summary of conventional techniques and procedures that can be used to carry out the invention (for example, to use the sequences disclosed for vaccination or

20 diagnosis). This summary is not a limitation of the invention but, rather, provides examples that can be used, but are not necessary.

general

The implementation of the present invention will use, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of molecular biology, microbiology, recombinant DNA and immunology, which are within the skill of the art. Such techniques are fully explained in the literature, for example, Sambrook Molecular Cloning; A Laboratory Manual, second edition (1989); DNA Cloning, Volumes I and II (D.N. Glover ed. 1985); Oligonucleotide Synthesis (M.J. Gait ed, 1984); Nucleic Acid Hybridization (B.D. Hames & S.J. Higgins eds. 1984); Transcription and Traslation (B.D. Hames & S.J. Higgins eds. 1984); Animal Cell Culture (R.I. Freshney ed. 1986); Immobilized Cells and Enzimes (IRI Press, 1986); B. Perbal, A Practical Guide to Molecular Cloning (1984);

30 The Methods in Enzymology series (Academic Press, Inc), especially volumes 154 and 155; Gene Transfer Vectors for Mammalian Cells (J.H. Miller and M.P. Calos eds. 1987, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory); Mayer and Walker, eds. (1987), Immunochemical Methods in Cell and Molecular Biology (Academic Press, London); Scopes (1987) Protein Purification: Principles and Practice, Second Edition (Springer-Verlag, N.Y.), and Handbook of Experimental Immunology, Volumes I-IV (D.M. Weir and C.C. Blackwell eds 1986).

35 In this specification conventional abbreviations for nucleotides and amino acids are used.

Definitions

A composition containing X is "substantially free of" Y when at least 85% by weight of the total X + Y in the composition is X. Preferably, X comprises at least about 90% by weight of the total X + Y in the composition. composition, more preferably at least about 95% or even 99% by weight.

The term "comprising" means "including" as well as "consisting of" for example a composition "comprising" X may consist exclusively of X or may include something other than X, such as X + Y.

The term "heterologous" refers to two biological components that are not found together in nature. The components may be host cells, genes or regulatory regions, such as promoters. Although heterologous components are not found together in nature, they can work together, such as when a heterologous promoter to a gene is operatively linked to the gene. Another example is when a Neisseria sequence is heterologous to a mouse host cell. Additional examples would be two epitopes of it

or of different proteins that have been mounted on a single protein in an organization not found in nature.

An "origin of replication" is a polynucleotide sequence that initiates and regulates polynucleotide replication,

50 such as an expression vector. The origin of replication behaves as an autonomous unit of polynucleotide replication in a cell, capable of replication under its own control. An origin of replication may be necessary for a vector to replicate in a particular host cell. With certain origins of replication, an expression vector can reproduce at a high copy number in the presence of the appropriate proteins within the cell. Examples of origins are sequences that replicate autonomously, which are effective in yeast; and the viral T antigen, effective in COS-7 cells.

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A "mutant" sequence is defined as a DNA, RNA or amino acid sequence that is different from but has a homology with the native sequence or the sequence disclosed. Depending on the particular sequence 5, the degree of sequence identity between the native sequence or the disclosed sequence and the mutant sequence is preferably greater than 50% (eg, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95 %, 99% or more, calculated using the Smith-Waterman algorithm as described above). As used herein, an "allelic variant" of a nucleic acid molecule, or region, for which the nucleic acid sequence is provided herein is a nucleic acid molecule, or region, which appears essentially in the same locus in the genome of another isolate or a second isolate, and which, due to the natural variation caused by, for example, mutation or recombination, has a similar but not identical nucleic acid sequence. An allelic variant of the coding region typically encodes a protein that has activity similar to that of the protein encoded by the gene with which it is being compared. An allelic variant may also comprise an alteration in the 5 ’or 3’ untranslated regions of the gene, such as in the control regions

15 regulators (see, for example, U.S. Patent No. 5,753,235).

Expression Systems

Neisseria nucleotide sequences can be expressed in a variety of different expression systems; for example those used with mammalian cells, baculovirus, plants, bacteria and yeasts.

i. Mammalian systems

20 Mammalian expression systems are known in the art. A mammalian promoter is any DNA sequence capable of binding the mammalian RNA polymerase and initiating the downstream (3 ') transcription of a coding sequence (eg, a structural gene) into mRNA. A promoter will have a transcription initiation region, which is normally located proximal to the 5 'end of the coding sequence and a TATA box, normally located 25-30 base pairs (bp) upstream of the initiation site of the transcription

25 It is believed that the TATA box directs RNA polymerase II to begin RNA synthesis at the correct site. A mammalian promoter will also contain a promoter element upstream, normally located 100 or 200 bp upstream of the TATA box. A promoter element upstream determines the rate at which the transcription begins and can act in any orientation [Sambrook et al. (1989) "Expression of Clone Genes in Mammalian Cells" In Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed.].

30 Mammalian viral genes are often expressed in large numbers and have a wide variety of hosts; therefore, sequences encoding mammalian viral genes provide particularly useful promoter sequences. Examples include the SV40 early promoter, the mouse mammary tumor virus LTR promoter, the adenovirus major late promoter (Ad MLP), and the herpes simplex virus promoter. In addition, sequences derived from non-viral genes, such as the murine metallothionein gene, also

35 provide useful promoter sequences. Expression can be constitutive or regulated (inducible), depending on the promoter can be induced by glucocorticoids in hormone-sensitive cells.

The presence of an enhancer element (enhancer), combined with the promoter elements described above, will normally increase expression levels. An enhancer is a regulatory DNA sequence that can stimulate transcription up to 1,000 times when it binds to homologous or 40 heterologous promoters, with the synthesis starting at the site of normal RNA initiation. Enhancers are also active when they are placed upstream or downstream of the transcription initiation site, in either normal or inverted orientation, or at a distance of more than 1,000 nucleotides from the promoter [Maniatis et al. (1987) Science

236: 1237; Alberts et al. (1989) Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2nd ed.]. Enhancers derived from viruses can be particularly useful, because they usually have a wider range of hosts.

45 Examples include the SV40 early gene enhancer [Dijkema et al. (1985) EMBO J. 4: 761] and enhancers / promoters derived from the long terminal repeat (LTR) of Rous sarcoma virus [Gorman et al. (1982b) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 79: 6777] and the human cytomegalovirus [Boshart et al. (1985) Cell 41: 521]. In addition, some enhancers are adjustable and become active only in the presence of an inducer, such as a hormone or a metal ion [Sassone-Corsi and Borelli (1986) Trends Genet. 2: 215; Maniatis et al. (1987)

50 Science 236: 1237].

A DNA molecule can be expressed intracellularly in mammalian cells. A promoter sequence can be directly linked to the DNA molecule, in which case the first amino acid at the N-terminus of the recombinant protein will always be a methionine, which is encoded by the ATG initiation codon. If desired, the N-terminus can be cleaved from the protein by in vitro incubation with cyanogen bromide.

Alternatively, foreign proteins can also be secreted from the cell to the culture medium by creating chimeric DNA molecules that encode a fusion protein consisting of a leader sequence fragment that makes it possible to secrete the foreign protein into mammalian cells. . Preferably, there are encoded processing sites between the leader fragment and the foreign gene that can be cleaved in vivo or in vitro. The leader sequence fragment usually encodes a signal peptide comprising hydrophobic amino acids that direct the secretion of the protein from the cell. The tripartite leader of adenovirus is an example of a leader sequence that enables the secretion of a foreign protein in mammalian cells.

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5 Usually, the transcription termination and polyadenylation sequences recognized by mammalian cells are regulatory regions located in 3 'position with respect to the translation termination codon and, therefore, together with the promoter elements, flank the coding sequence The 3 ′ end of mature mRNA is formed by site-specific post-transcriptional cleavage and polyadenylation [Birnstiel et al. (1985) Cell 41: 349; Proudfoot and Whitelaw (1988) “Termination and 3’ end processing of eukaryotic RNA ”. In

10 Transcription and splicing (ed. B.D. Hames and D.M. Glover); Proudfoot (1989) Trends Biochem. Sci. 14: 105]. These sequences direct the transcription of an mRNA that can be translated into the polypeptide encoded by the DNA. Examples of transcription termination / polyadenylation signals include those derived from SV40 [Sambrook et al. (1989) "Expression of cloned genes in cultured mammalian cells." In Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual].

Usually, the components described above, comprising a promoter, polyadenylation signal and

15 sequence of transcription termination, are placed together in expression constructs. If desired, in an expression construct, enhancers, introns with donor sites and functional splicing and acceptor sites and leader sequences can also be included. Expression constructs are often maintained in a replicon, such as an extrachromosomal element (eg, plasmids) capable of stable maintenance in a host, such as mammalian cells or bacteria. The replication systems in mammals

20 include those derived from animal viruses, which require factors that act in the trans direction to replicate. For example, plasmids containing the papovavirus replication system, such as SV40 [Gluzman (1981) Cell 23: 175] or polyomavirus, replicate to an extremely high copy number in the presence of the appropriate viral T antigen. Additional examples of mammalian replicons include those obtained from bovine papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Additionally, the replicon can have two replication systems, which allows it to

This way is maintained, for example, in mammalian cells for expression and in a prokaryotic host for cloning and amplification. Examples of such mammalian-bacterial shuttle vectors include pMT2 [Kaufman et al. (1989) Mol. Cell Biol. 9: 946] and pHEBO [Shimizu et al. (1986) Mol. Cell Biol. 6: 1074].

The transformation procedure used depends on the host to be transformed. Methods for the introduction of heterologous polynucleotides into mammalian cells are known in the art and include

30 Dextran-mediated transfection, calcium phosphate precipitation, polybrene-mediated transfection, protoplast fusion, electroporation, encapsulation of the polynucleotide (s) in liposomes, and direct microinjection of the DNA in the nuclei.

Mammalian cell lines available as hosts for expression are known in the art and include many immortalized cell lines available in the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), including

35 but not limited to, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, HeLa cells, hamster breeding kidney (BHK) cells, monkey kidney cells (COS), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (eg, Hep G2) , and several different cell lines.

ii. Baculovirus Systems

The polynucleotide encoding the protein can also be inserted into a suitable insect expression vector.

40 and is operatively attached to the control elements within this vector. The construction of vectors employs techniques that are known in the art. Generally, the components of the expression system include a transfer vector, usually a bacterial plasmid, that contains both a fragment of the baculovirus genome and a convenient restriction site for insertion of the heterologous gene or genes to be expressed; a wild-type baculovirus with a sequence homologous to the specific baculovirus fragment in the vector of

Transfer (this allows homologous recombination of the heterologous gene in the baculovirus genome); and appropriate insect host cells and culture media.

After inserting the DNA sequence encoding the protein into the transfer vector, the vector and the wild viral genome are transfected into an insect host cell in which the vector and the viral genome are allowed to recombine. The packaged recombinant virus is expressed and plaques are identified and purified.

50 recombinants. Materials and procedures for baculovirus / insect cell expression systems are commercially available as a kit, among others, Invitrogen, San Diego CA ("MaxBac" kit). These techniques are generally known to those skilled in the art and are fully described in Summers and Smith, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 1555 (1987) (hereinafter "Summers and Smith").

55 Prior to insertion of the DNA sequence encoding the protein into the baculovirus genome, the components described above, comprising a promoter, a leader sequence (if desired), the coding sequence of interest and the termination sequence of transcription, they are usually assembled in an intermediate translocation construct (transfer vector). This construction may contain a single gene and regulatory elements linked operatively; multiple genes, each with its own set of elements

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regulators operatively linked; or multiple genes, regulated by the same set of regulatory elements. Intermediate translocation constructs are often maintained in a replicon, such as an extrachromosomal element (eg, plasmids) capable of stable maintenance in a host, such as a bacterium. The replicon will have a replication system, which will allow it to remain in a suitable host for cloning and amplification.

Currently, the transfer vector most commonly used to introduce foreign genes into AcNPV is pAc373. Many other vectors, known to those skilled in the art, have also been designed. These include, for example, pVL985 (which alters the ATG polyhedrin initiation codon to ATT, and which introduces a 32 base pair BamHI cloning site downstream of the ATT codon; see Luckow and Summers, Virology (1989), 17: 31.

The plasmid usually also contains the polyhedrin polyadenylation signal (Miller et al. (1988) Ann. Rev. Microbiol., 42: 177) and a prokaryotic ampicillin resistance (amp) gene and an origin of replication for selection and propagation in E. coli.

Baculovirus transfer vectors usually contain a baculovirus promoter. A baculovirus promoter is any DNA sequence capable of binding a baculovirus RNA polymerase and initiating the downstream (5 ’to 3’) transcription of a coding sequence (eg, structural gene) into mRNA. A promoter will have a transcription initiation region that is usually located proximally with respect to the 5 ′ end of the coding sequence. This region of transcription initiation usually includes an RNA polymerase binding site and a transcription initiation site. A baculovirus transfer vector can also have a second domain called enhancer, which, if present, is normally distal to the structural gene. The expression may be regulated or constitutive.

Structural genes, abundantly transcribed in the last moments in a cycle of viral infection, provide particularly useful promoter sequences. Examples include sequences derived from the gene encoding the viral polyhedral protein, Friesen et al. (1986) "The Regulation of Baculovirus Gene Expression" in: "The Molecular Biology of Baculoviruses" (ed. Walter Doerfler): EPO Publication No. 127 839 and 155 476; and the gene encoding the p10 protein, Vlak et al., (1988), J. Gen. Virol. 69: 765.

The DNA encoding suitable signal sequences may be derived from genes for secreted insect or baculovirus proteins, such as the baculovirus polyhedrin gene (Carbonell et al. (1988) Gene, 73: 409). Alternatively, since the signals for post-translational modifications of mammalian cells (such as signal peptide cleavage, proteolytic cleavage and phosphorylation) appear to be recognized by insect cells, and the signals required for secretion and nuclear accumulation also they appear to be conserved between invertebrate cells and vertebrate cells, leaders that do not come from insects, such as those obtained from genes encoding human interferon-α, Maeda et al. (1985), Nature 315: 592; Human gastrin release peptide, Lebacq-Verheyden et al., (1988), Molec. Cell Biol. 8: 3129; Human IL-2, Smith et al., (1985) Proc. Nat’l Acad. Sci. USA, 82: 8404; Mouse IL-3, (Miyajima et al. (1987) Gene 58: 273; and human glucocerebrosidase; Martin et al. (1988) DNA, 7: 99, can also be used to provide secretion in insects.

A recombinant polypeptide or polyprotein can be expressed intracellularly or, if expressed with the appropriate regulatory sequences, can be secreted. Good intracellular expression of non-fused foreign proteins usually requires heterologous genes that ideally have a short leader sequence that contains adequate translation initiation signals preceding an ATG initiation signal. If desired, methionine at the N-terminus can be cleaved from the mature protein by in vitro incubation with cyanogen bromide.

Alternatively, recombinant polyproteins or proteins that are not secreted naturally can be secreted from the insect cell creating chimeric DNA molecules that encode a fusion protein that comprises a fragment of the leader sequence that provides protein secretion. strange in insects. The leader sequence fragment usually encodes a signal peptide comprised of hydrophobic amino acids that direct translocation of the protein to the endoplasmic reticulum.

After insertion of the DNA sequence and / or the gene encoding the protein expression product precursor, an insect host cell is co-transformed with the heterologous DNA of the transfer vector and the genomic DNA of the wild-type baculovirus. -usually by cotransfection. The promoter and the transcription termination sequence of the construct will usually consist of a 2-5 kb section of the baculovirus genome. Methods for introducing heterologous DNA into the desired site in the baculovirus virus are known in the art. (See Summers and Smith cited above; Ju et al. (1987); Smith et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. (1983), 3: 2156: and Luckow and Summers (1989)). For example, the insertion may be in a gene such as the polyhedrin gene, by homologous double cross-linking recombination; The insert can also be at a restriction enzyme site introduced into the desired baculovirus gene. Miller et al. (1989), Bioessays, 4:

91. The DNA sequence, when cloned instead of the polyhedrin gene in the expression vector, is flanked in both 5 ’and 3’ by specific polyhedrin sequences and is located downstream of the polyhedrin promoter.

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The newly formed baculovirus expression vector is subsequently packaged in an infectious recombinant baculovirus. Homologous recombination occurs at a low frequency (between about 1% and about 5%); therefore, the majority of the virus produced after cotransfection is still wild-type virus. Therefore, a procedure to identify recombinant viruses is necessary. An advantage of the expression system is a visual selection that allows to distinguish recombinant viruses. The polyhedrin protein, produced by the native virus is produced at very high levels in the nuclei of infected cells in the late stages after viral infection. The accumulated polyhedrin protein forms occlusion bodies that also contain included particles. These occlusion bodies, up to 15 μm in size, have a high refractive capacity, which gives them a bright appearance that is easily visualized in the optical microscope. Cells infected with recombinant viruses lack occlusion bodies. To distinguish the recombinant virus from the wild-type virus, the transfection supernatant is plated on a monolayer of insect cells by techniques known to those skilled in the art. Namely, the plates are scanned in the optical microscope to detect the presence (indicative of wild type virus) or absence (indicative of recombinant viruses) of occlusion bodies. “Current Protocols in Microbiology Vol. 2 (Ausubel et al., Eds) at 16.8 (Suppl.

15 10, 1990), Summers and Smith, cited above, Miller et al., (1989).

Recombinant baculovirus expression vectors have been developed for the infection of several insect cells. For example, recombinant baculovirus have been developed for among others, Aedes aegypti, Autographa californica, Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, Spodoptera frugiperda and Trichoplusia ni (WO WO 04/046699; Carbonell et al. (1985) J. Virol. 56: 153, Wright (1986) Nature 321: 718; Smith et al. (1983) Mol. Cell. Biol. 3: 2156: and see generally, Fraser et al. (1989) In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. 25: 225).

Cells and cell culture media are commercially available for direct and fusion expression of heterologous polypeptides in a baculovirus expression system; Cell culture technology is generally known to those skilled in the art. See for example Summers and Smith cited above.

The modified insect cells can then be grown in a suitable nutrient medium, which allows

Stable maintenance of the plasmid (s) present in the modified insect host. When the gene product of expression is under inducible control, the host can be grown to high density and expression can be induced. Alternatively, when the expression is constitutive, the product will be expressed continuously in the medium and the nutrient medium must circulate continuously, while the product of interest is removed and depleted nutrients are increased. The product can be purified by techniques such as chromatography, for example HPLC, affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, etc .; electrophoresis; density gradient centrifugation; solvent extraction, or the like. As appropriate, the product can be further purified, as required, to substantially eliminate any insect protein that is also secreted in the medium or that is the result of lysis of insect cells, to provide a product that is at least substantially free. of host residues, for example, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides.

In order to obtain the expression of the proteins, recombinant host cells obtained from the transformants are incubated under conditions that allow the expression of the sequence encoding the recombinant protein. These conditions will vary, depending on the host cell selected. However, the conditions are easily determined by those skilled in the art, based on what is known in the art.

iii. Plant systems

There are many gene expression systems for plant and whole plant culture known in the art. Gene expression systems in exemplary plant cells include those described in US Pat. Nº: 5,693,506; 5,659,122; and 5,608,143. Other examples of genetic expression in plant cell culture have been described by Zenk, Phytochemistry 30: 3861-3863 (1991). Descriptions of plant protein signal peptides can be found in addition to the references described above in Vaulcombe et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 209: 33-40 (1987); Chandler et al., Plant Molecular Biology 3: 407-418 (1984); Rogers, J. Biol. Chem. 260: 3731-3738 (1985); Rothstein et al., Gene 55: 353-356 (1987); Whittier et al., Nucleic Acids Research 15: 2515-2535 (1987); Wirsel et al., Molecular Microbiology 3: 3-14 (1989); Yu et al., Gene 122: 247-253 (1992). A description of the regulation of plant gene expression by phytohormone, gibberellic acid and secreted enzymes induced by gibberellic acid can be found in R.L. Jones and J. MacMillin, Gibberellins: in: Advanced Plant Physiology, Malcolm B. Winkins, ed., 1984 Pitman Publiching Limited, London p. 21-52. References describing other metabolically regulated genes: Sheen, Plant Cell,

2: 1027-1038 (1990); Maas et al., EMBO J. 9: 3447-3452 (1990); Benkel and Hickey, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 84: 13371339 (1987).

Typically, using techniques known in the art, a desired polynucleotide sequence is inserted into

55 of an expression cassette comprising genetic regulatory elements designed for operation in plants. The expression cassette is inserted into a desired expression vector with accompanying sequences upstream and chain below the expression cassette suitable for expression in a plant host. The accompanying sequences will be of viral or plasmid origin and provide the necessary characteristics to the vector to allow the vector to move DNA from an original cloning host, such as a bacterium, to the desired plant host. The basic bacterial / plant vector construction will preferably provide an origin of prokaryotic replication of a wide variety of hosts; a prokaryotic selectable marker; and, for Agrobacterium transformations, T-DNA sequences for Agrobacterium-mediated transfer to plant chromosomes. Where the heterologous gene is not readily detectable, the construct will also preferably have a suitable selectable marker gene to determine if a plant cell has been

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5 transformed. A general review of suitable markers, for example for members of the grass family, is found in the document Wilmink and Dons, 1993, Plant Mol. Biol. Reptr, 11 (2): 165-185.

Appropriate sequences are also recommended to allow integration of the heterologous sequence into the plant genome. These may include transposon sequences and the like for homologous recombination as well as Ti sequences that allow random insertion of a heterologous expression cassette into a genome.

10 vegetable Suitable prokaryotic selectable markers include resistance to antibiotics such as ampicillin or tetracycline. Other DNA sequences encoding additional functions, as known in the art, may also be present in the vector.

The nucleic acid molecules of the subject invention may be included in an expression cassette for the expression of the protein (s) of interest. Usually, there will only be one expression cassette, even if they are

15 feasible two or more. The recombinant expression cassette will contain, in addition to the sequence encoding the heterologous protein, the following elements: a promoter region, untranslated 5 'plant sequences, initiation codon depending on whether or not the structural gene comes equipped with one, and a sequence of termination of transcription and translation. Unique enzyme restriction sites at the 5 ’and 3’ ends of the cassette allow for easy insertion into a pre-existing vector.

A heterologous coding sequence can be for any protein related to the present invention. The sequence encoding the protein of interest will encode a signal peptide that will allow processing and translocation of the protein, as appropriate, and will usually lack any sequence that could result in the binding of the desired protein of the invention to a membrane. Although, for the majority, the region of transcription initiation will be that of a gene that is expressed and translocated during germination, using the

25 signal peptide that enables translocation, translocation of the protein of interest can also be provided. In this way, the protein (s) of interest will be translocated from the cells in which they are expressed and can be collected efficiently. Typically, the secretion in the seeds is through the aleurone or through the epithelial layer of the skull within the endosperm of the seed. Although it is not necessary for the protein to be secreted from the cells in which the protein is produced, this facilitates the isolation and purification of the protein.

30 recombinant.

Since the definitive expression of the desired gene product will be in a eukaryotic cell it is desirable to determine if any portion of the cloned gene contains sequences that will be processed as introns by the host splicing machinery. If this were so, directed mutagenesis of the "intron" region can be performed to prevent the loss of a portion of the genetic message in the form of a false intron code, Reed and Maniatis, Cell 41: 95

35 105, 1985.

The vector can be microinjected directly into plant cells by using micropipettes to mechanically transfer the recombinant DNA. Crossway, Mol. Gen. Genet, 202: 179-185, 1985. The genetic material can also be transferred to the plant cell using polyethylene glycol, Krens et al., Nature, 296, 72-74, 1982. Another method of introducing nucleic acid segments is ballistic penetration at high speed through

40 small particles with nucleic acid within the matrix of small beads or particles, or on the surface, Klein et al., Nature, 327, 70-73, 1987 and Knudsen and Muller, 1991, Plant, 185: 330-336 which show the bombardment of barley endosperm particles to create transgenic barley. Still another introduction procedure would be the fusion of protoplasts with other entities, mini-cells, cells, lysosomes or other bodies with lipid surface that can condense, Fraley, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 79, 1859-1863, 1982.

The vector can also be introduced into plant cells by electroporation (Fromm et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82: 5824, 1985). In this technique, plant protoplasts are subjected to electroporation in the presence of plasmids containing the gene construct. The electrical impulses of high ionic potential reversibly permeabilize the biological membranes allowing the introduction of plasmids. Electroporated plant protoplasts re-form the cell wall, divide and form plant corns.

All plants from which protoplasts can be isolated and grown to provide complete regenerated plants can be transformed by the present invention so that whole plants containing the transferred gene are recovered. It is known that virtually all plants can be regenerated from cultured cells or tissues, including but not limited to all major sugarcane, sugar beet, cotton, fruit and other trees, legumes and vegetables. Some suitable plants include, for

For example, the species of the genera Fragaria, Lotus, Medicago, Onobrychis, Trifolium, Trigonella, Vigna, Citrus, Linum, Geranium, Manihot, Daucus, Arabidopsis, Brassica, Raphanus, Sinapis, Atropa, Capsicum, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Lycopersion, Nicotiana, Solanum, Petunia, Digitalis, Majorana, Cichorium, Helianthus, Lactuca, Bromus, Asparagus, Antirrhinum, Hererocallis, Nemesia, Pelargonium, Panicum, Pennisetum, Ranunculus, Senecio, Salpiglossis, Cucumis, Browaolium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glyalium, Glycine Sorghum and Datura.

image9

Regeneration media vary from species to plant species, but generally a suspension of transformed protoplasts containing copies of the heterologous gene is first provided. Callus tissue is formed and outbreaks can be induced from calluses, which can then be rooted. Alternatively, embryo formation can be induced from the protoplast suspension. These embryos germinate like the

5 natural embryos to form plants. The culture media will generally contain various amino acids and hormones, such as auxin and cytokinins. It is also advantageous to add glutamic acid and proline to the medium, especially for species such as corn and alfalfa. Buds and roots normally develop simultaneously. Effective regeneration will depend on the medium, genotype, and culture history. If these three variables are controlled, then the regeneration is fully reproducible and repeatable.

In some plant cell culture systems, the desired protein of the invention can be excreted or, alternatively, the protein can be extracted from the whole plant. In cases where the protein of the invention is secreted into the medium, it can be collected. Alternatively, embryos and seeds without embryo or other plant tissue can be mechanically broken to release any secreted protein between cells and tissues. The mixture can be suspended in a buffer solution to recover soluble proteins. Later

15 will use conventional protein isolation and purification procedures to purify the recombinant protein. The parameters of time, temperature, pH, oxygen and volume will be adjusted by routine procedures to optimize the expression and recovery of the heterologous protein.

iv. Bacterial Systems

Bacterial expression techniques are known in the art. A bacterial promoter is any DNA sequence

20 capable of binding to bacterial RNA polymerase and initiating the downstream (3 ’) transcription of a coding sequence (eg structural gene) into mRNA. A promoter will have a transcription initiation region that is normally located proximally with respect to the 5 ′ end of the coding sequence. This region of transcription initiation usually includes a mRNA polymerase binding site and a transcription initiation site. A bacterial promoter can also have a second domain called a

Operator, which can overlap with an adjacent RNA polymerase binding site at which RNA synthesis begins. The operator allows negatively regulated (inducible) transcription, since a gene repressor protein can bind to the operator and therefore inhibit the transcription of a specific gene. Constitutive expression can occur in the absence of negative regulatory elements, such as the operator. In addition, positive regulation can be achieved by a gene activating protein binding sequence, which, if

30 is present, is normally in the proximal position (5 ’) with respect to the RNA polymerase binding sequence. An example of a gene activating protein is the catabolite activating protein (CAP), which helps initiate transcription of the lac operon in Escherichia coli (E. coli) [Raibaud et al., (1984) Annu. Rev. Genet.

18: 173]. Therefore, the regulated expression can be positive or negative, thereby enhancing or reducing transcription.

35 Sequences encoding metabolic pathway enzymes provide particularly useful promoter sequences. Examples include promoter sequences derived from enzymes that metabolize sugars, such as galactose, lactose (lac) [Chang et al. (1977) Nature 198: 1056] and maltose. Other examples include promoter sequences derived from biosynthetic enzymes such as tryptophan (trp) [Goeddel et al. (1980) Nuc. Acids Res 8: 4057; Yelverton et al., (1981) Nucl. Acids Res. 9: 731, US Pat. 4,738,921; Publication EP-A-036776 and

40 EP-A-0121775]. The g-lactamase (bla) promoter system [Weissmann (1981) "The cloning of interferon and other mistakes", in Interferon 3 (ed. I. Gresser)], the bacteriophage lambda PL [Shimatake et al., (1981) Nature 292: 128] and T5 promoter systems (US Patent 4,689,406] also provide useful promoter sequences.

In addition, synthetic promoters that do not occur in nature also function as bacterial promoters. For example, transcription activation sequences of a bacterial promoter or bacteriophage promoter can bind to the operon sequences of another bacterial promoter or bacteriophage promoter, creating a synthetic hybrid promoter [US Pat. 4,551,433]. For example, the tac promoter is a trp-lac hybrid promoter comprising both the trp promoter and the lac operon sequences that is regulated by the lac repressor [Amann et al. (1983) Gene 25: 167; de Boer et al, (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 80:21]. In addition, a bacterial promoter may include naturally occurring promoters of non-bacterial origin that have the ability to bind to bacterial RNA polymerase and initiate transcription. A promoter that occurs in the nature of non-bacterial origin can also be coupled with a compatible RNA polymerase to produce high levels of expression of some genes in prokaryotes. The bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase / promoter system is an example of a coupled promoter system [Studier et al. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 189: 113, Tabor et al., (1985) Proc Natl Acad. Sci. 82: 1074]. In addition, a hybrid promoter may also comprise a bacteriophage promoter and a

55 E. coli operating region (publication EPO-A-0 267 851).

In addition to the promoter sequence in operation, an effective ribosome binding site for expression of foreign genes in prokaryotes is also useful. In E. coli, the ribosome binding site is called the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence and includes an initiation codon (ATG) and a sequence of 3-9 nucleotides in length located 3-11 nucleotides upstream of the codon. initiation [Shine et al., (1975) Nature 254: 34]. It is believed that the SD sequence promotes mRNA binding to the ribosome by matching bases between the SD sequence and the 3 ’end

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of E. coli 16S rRNA [Steitz et al. (1979) "Genetic signals and nucleotide sequences in Messenger RNA", in Biological Regulation and Development: Gene Expression (ed. R.F. Goldberger)]. To express eukaryotic genes and prokaryotic genes with a weak ribosome binding site [Sambrook et al., (1989) "Expression of cloned genes in Escherichia coli", in Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual].

A DNA molecule can be expressed intracellularly. A promoter sequence can be directly linked to the DNA molecule, in which case the first amino acid at the N-terminus will always be a methionine, which is encoded by the ATG initiation codon. If desired, methionine at the N-terminus can be cleaved from the protein by incubation in vitro with cyanogen bromide or by incubation in vivo or in vitro with a bacterial methionine N-terminal peptidase (Publication EPO-A-0 219 237).

Fusion proteins provide an alternative to direct expression. Usually, a DNA sequence encoding the N-terminal portion of an endogenous bacterial protein, or other stable protein, is fused to the 5 ′ end of heterologous coding sequences. After expression, this construct will provide a fusion of the two amino acid sequences. For example, the bacteriophage lambda cell gene can bind at the 5 ’end of a foreign gene and can be expressed in bacteria. The resulting fusion protein preferably retains a site for a processing enzyme (factor Xa) to cleave the bacteriophage protein from the foreign gene [Nagai et al. (1984) Nature 309: 810]. Fusion proteins can also be prepared with lacZ gene sequences [Jia et al. (1987) Gene 60: 197], trpE [Allen et al., (1987) J. Biotechnol. 5: 93: Makoff et al., (1989)

J. Gen. Microbiol. 135: 11] and Chey [Publication EP-A-0 324 647]. The DNA sequence at the junction of the two amino acid sequences may or may not encode a cleavable site. Another example is a ubiquitin fusion protein. Such a fusion protein is made with the ubiquitin region that preferably retains a site for a processing enzyme (for example a ubiquitin specific processing protease) to cleave the ubiquitin from the foreign protein. Through this procedure, a natural foreign protein can be isolated [Miller et al. (1989) Biol Technology 7: 698].

Alternatively, foreign proteins can also be secreted from the cell by creating chimeric DNA molecules that encode a fusion protein that comprises a signal peptide sequence fragment that allows the secretion of the foreign protein in bacteria [US Pat. 4,336,336]. The signal sequence fragment usually encodes a signal peptide comprising hydrophobic amino acids that direct the secretion of the cell protein. The protein is secreted in the culture medium (gram positive bacteria) or in the periplasmic space, located between the inner and outer membrane of the cell (gram negative bacteria). Preferably there are processing sites, which can be cleaved in vivo or in vitro encoded between the signal peptide fragment and the foreign gene.

DNA encoding suitable signal sequences can be obtained from genes for secreted bacterial proteins, such as the E. coli outer membrane protein (ompA) gene [Masui et al. (1983), in: Experimental Manipulation of Gene Expression; Ghrayeb et al. (1984) EMBO J. 3: 2437] and the E. coli alkaline phosphatase signal sequence (phoA) [Oka et al. (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 82: 7212]. As another example, the alpha amylase gene signal sequence of various Bacillus strains can be used to secrete heterologous proteins from B. subtilis [Palva et al. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79: 5582; publication EP-A-0 244 042].

Usually, the transcription termination sequences recognized by bacteria are regulatory regions located in the 3 'position with respect to the translation termination codon, and therefore together with the promoter flank the coding sequence. These sequences direct the transcription of an mRNA that can be translated into the polypeptide encoded by the DNA. Transcription termination sequences frequently include approximately 50 nucleotide DNA sequences capable of forming loop structures that aid in transcription termination. Examples include transcription termination sequences obtained from genes with strong promoters, such as the trp gene in E. coli as well as other biosynthetic genes.

Usually, the components described above, comprising a promoter, signal sequence (if desired), coding sequence of interest, and transcription termination sequence, are placed together in expression constructs. Expression constructs are often maintained in a replicon, such as an extrachromosomal element (eg, plasmids) capable of stable maintenance in a host, such as bacteria. The replicon will have a replication system, which therefore allows it to remain in a prokaryotic host for expression or for cloning and amplification. In addition, a replicon can be a high or low copy plasmid. A high copy plasmid will generally have a copy number that varies between about 5 and about 200 and usually between about 10 and about

150. A host containing a high copy plasmid will preferably contain at least about 10 and more preferably at least about 20 plasmids. A high or low copy number vector may be selected, depending on the effect of the vector and the foreign protein on the host.

Alternatively, expression constructs can be integrated into the bacterial genome with an integration vector. Integration vectors usually contain at least one sequence homologous to the bacterial chromosome that allows the vector to integrate. The integrations appear to be the result of recombinations between homologous DNA in the vector and the bacterial chromosome. For example, integration vectors constructed with

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DNA from various Bacillus strains are integrated into the Bacillus chromosome [EP-A-0 127 328]. Integration vectors may also comprise bacteriophage or transposon sequences.

Usually, extrachromosomal and integration expression constructs may contain selectable markers to allow selection of bacterial strains that have been transformed. Selectable markers can be expressed in the bacterial host and may include genes that make bacteria resistant to drugs such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, kanamycin (neomycin) and tetracycline [Davies et al. (1978) Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 32: 469]. Selectable markers can also include biosynthetic genes, such as those of the histidine, tryptophan and leucine pathways.

Alternatively, some of the components described above may be placed together in transformation vectors. Transformation vectors usually comprise a selectable marker that is maintained in a replicon or developed in an integration vector, as described above.

Expression and transformation vectors, whether extrachromosomal replicons or integration vectors, have been developed for transformation in many bacteria. For example, expression vectors have been developed for, among others, the following bacteria: Bacillus subtilis [Palva et al. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA

79: 5582: EP-A 0 036 259 and EP-A-0 063 953; WO 84/04541], Escherichia coli (Shimatake et al., (1981) Nature 292: 128; Amman et al. (1985) Gene 40: 183: Studier et al. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 189 : 113; Publication EP-A-0 036 776, EP-A-0 136 829 and EP-A-0 136 907), Streptococus cremoris [Powell et al. (1988) Appl. Environ. Microbiol 54: 655]; Streptococcus lividans [Powell et al., (1988) Appl. Environ. Microbiol 54: 655], Streptomyces lividans [US Pat. 4,745,056].

Methods for introducing exogenous DNA into bacterial hosts are well known in the art, and usually include the transformation of a bacterium treated with CaCl2 or other agents, such as divalent cations and DMSO. DNA can also be introduced into bacterial cells by electroporation. The transformation procedures usually vary with the bacterial species to be transformed. See for example, [Masson et al. (1989) FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 60: 273, Palva et al., (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79: 5582; Publication EP-A-0 036 259 and EP-A-0 063 953; WO 84/04541 Bacillus], [Miller et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 85: 856, and Wang et al. (1990) J. Bacteriol. 172: 949, Campylobacter], [Cohen et al. (1973) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 69: 2110: Dower et al. (1988) Nucleic Acids Res. 16: 6127; Kushner (1978) “An improved method for transformation of Escherichia coli with ColE1-derived plasmids, in Genetic Engineering: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Genetic Engineering (eds. H.W. Boyer and S. Nicosia); Mandel et al. (1970) J. Mol. Biol

53: 159: Taketo (1988) Biochim. Biophys Minutes 949: 318; Escherichia], [Chassy et al. (1987) FEMS Microbiol. Lett.

44:

173, Lactobacillus]; [Fiedler et al., (1988) Anal. Biochem 170: 38, Pseudomonas]; [Augustin et al. (1990) FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 66: 203, Staphylococcus], [Barany et al. (1980) J. Bacteriol, 144: 698; Harlander (1987) ”Transformation of Streptococcus lactis by electroporation, in: Streptococcal Genetics (ed. J. Ferretti and R. Curtiss III); Perry et al., (1981) Infect. Immun 32: 1295; Powell et al., (1988) Appl. Environ. Microbiol 54: 655; Somkuti et al., (1987) Proc. 4th Evr. Cong. Biotechnology 1: 412, Streptococcus].

v.

 Yeast Expression

Yeast expression systems are also known to those skilled in the art. A yeast promoter is any DNA sequence capable of binding to the yeast RNA polymerase and initiating transcription downstream (3 ') of a coding sequence (eg, structural gene) in mRNA. A promoter will have a transcription initiation region that is usually located proximally with respect to the 5 ′ end of the coding sequence. This region of transcription initiation usually includes an RNA polymerase binding site (the "TATA box") and a transcription initiation site. A yeast promoter may also have a second domain called upstream activating sequence (UAS), which, if present, is normally distal to the structural gene. UAS allows regulated (inducible) expression. Constitutive expression occurs in the absence of a UAS. Regulated expression can be positive or negative, thereby enhancing or reducing transcription.

Yeast is a fermenting organism with an active metabolic pathway, therefore sequences encoding enzymes in the metabolic pathway provide particularly useful promoter sequences. Examples include alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) (Publication EP-A-0 284 044), enolase, glucokinase, glucose-6 phosphate isomerase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, (GAP or GAPDH), hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, 3-phosphoglycerate mutase and pyruvate kinase (PyK) (Publication EP-A-0 329 203). The yeast PHO5 gene, which encodes acid phosphatase, also provides useful promoter sequences [Myanohara et al. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 1].

In addition, synthetic promoters that do not occur in nature also function as yeast promoters. For example, the UAS sequences of a yeast promoter can bind with the transcription activation region of another yeast promoter, creating a synthetic hybrid promoter. Examples of such hybrid promoters include the ADH regulatory sequence linked to the GAP transcription activation region (US Pat. Nos. 4,876,197 and 4,880,734). Other examples of hybrid promoters include promoters that are constituted by the regulatory sequences of the ADH2, GAL4, GAL10, or PHO5 genes, combined with the

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Transcriptional activation region of a glycolytic enzyme gene such as GAP or PyK (Publication EP-A-0 164 556). In addition, a yeast promoter may include promoters that occur in the nature of origin other than yeast that have the ability to bind to yeast RNA polymerase and initiate transcription. Examples of such promoters include, among others, [Cohen et al. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77: 1078; Henikoff et al. (1981) Nature 283: 835; Hollenberg et al. (1981) Curr. Topics Microbiol. Immunol 96: 119; Hollenberg et al. (1979) "The Expression of Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae", in: Plasmids of Medical, Environmental and Commercial Importance (eds. K.N. Timmis and A. Puhler); Mercerau-Puigalon et al. (1980) Gene 11: 163; Panthier et al. (1980) Curr. Genet 2: 109].

A DNA molecule can be expressed intracellularly in yeast. A promoter sequence can be directly linked to the DNA molecule, in which case, the first amino acid at the N-terminus of the recombinant protein will always be a methionine, which is encoded by the ATG initiation codon. If desired, methionine at the N-terminus can be cleaved from the protein by in vitro incubation with cyanogen bromide.

Fusion proteins provide an alternative for yeast expression systems, as well as in mammalian, baculovirus and bacterial expression systems. Usually, a DNA sequence encoding the N-terminal portion of an endogenous yeast protein, or other stable protein, is fused to the 5 ′ end of the heterologous coding sequences. After expression, this construct will provide a fusion of the two amino acid sequences. For example, the yeast or human superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene can be linked at the 5 ’end of a foreign gene and expressed in yeast. The DNA sequence at the junction of the two amino acid sequences may or may not encode a cleavable site. See for example, Publication EP-A-0 196

056. Another example is a ubiquitin fusion protein. Said fusion protein is made with the ubiquitin region that preferably retains a site for a processing enzyme (for example, ubiquitin specific processing protease) to cleave the ubiquitin from the foreign protein. Through this procedure, therefore, a native foreign protein can be isolated (for example, WO 88/024066).

Alternatively, foreign proteins can also be secreted from the cell in the culture media by creating chimeric DNA molecules that encode a fusion protein comprising a leader sequence fragment that allows yeast secretion of the foreign protein. Preferably, there are encoded processing sites between the leader fragment and the foreign gene that can be cleaved in vivo or in vitro. The leader sequence fragment normally encodes a signal peptide comprising hydrophobic amino acids that direct the secretion of the protein from the cell.

DNA encoding suitable signal sequences can be obtained from genes for secreted yeast proteins, such as the yeast invertase gene (Publication EP-A-0 012 873; JPO Publication 62.096.086) and the factor A gene (U.S. Patent No. 4,588,684). Alternatively, there are leaders of different yeast origin, such as an interferon leader, who also allow secretion in yeasts (Publication EP-A-0 060 057).

A preference class of secretion leaders are those that employ a fragment of the yeast alpha factor gene, which contains a "pre" signal sequence and a "pro" region. The types of alpha factor fragments that can be used include the full length pre-pro alpha factor leader (from about 83 amino acid residues) as well as the truncated alpha factor leaders (usually about 25 to about 50 amino acid residues) ( U.S. Patent No. 4,546,083 and 4,870,008; Publication EP-A-0 324 274). Other leaders who employ a leading alpha factor fragment that allows secretion include hybrid factor alpha leaders made with a presequence of a first yeast, but a pro region of an alpha factor of a second yeast. (See for example Document WO 89/02463).

Usually, the transcription termination sequences recognized by yeast are regulatory sequences located in 3 ’position with respect to the translation termination codon, and therefore together with the promoter flank the coding sequence. These sequences direct the transcription of an mRNA that can be translated into the polypeptide encoded by the DNA. Examples of transcription termination sequence and other termination sequences recognized by yeast, such as those encoding glycolytic enzymes.

Usually, the components described above, comprising a promoter, leader (if desired), coding sequence of interest, and transcription termination sequence, are placed together in expression constructs. Expression constructs are often maintained in a replicon, such as an extrachromosomal element (eg, plasmids) capable of stable maintenance in a host, such as a yeast or a bacterium. The replicon may have two replication systems, which therefore allow it to be maintained, for example, in yeast for expression and in a prokaryotic host for cloning and amplification. Examples of such yeast-bacterial shuttle vectors include Yep24 [Botstein et al. (1979) Gene 8: 17-24], pCI / 1 [(Brake et al. (1984) Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 4642-4646] and YRp17 [Stinchcomb et al. (1982) J. Mol Biol.

158: 157]. In addition, a replicon can be a high copy plasmid or a low copy plasmid. A high copy plasmid will generally have a number of copies ranging from about 5 to about 200, and usually about 10 to about 150.

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A host containing a high copy number plasmid will preferably have at least about 10, and more preferably at least about 20. The introduction of a high or low copy vector may be selected, depending on the effect of the vector and the foreign protein on the host. See for example, Brake et al., Cited above.

Alternatively, expression constructs can be integrated into the yeast genome with an integration vector. Integration vectors usually contain at least one homologous sequence to a yeast chromosome that allows the vector to integrate, and preferably contain two homologous sequences that flank the expression construct. The integrations appear to be the result of recombinations between homologous DNA in the vector and the yeast chromosome [Orr-Weaver et al. (1983) Methods in Enzymol. 101: 228-245]. An integration vector can be directed to a specific locus in the yeast by selecting the appropriate homologous sequence for inclusion in the vector. See Orr-Weaver et al., Cited above. One or more expression constructs can be integrated, possibly affecting the levels of the recombinant protein produced [Rine et al. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 6750]. The chromosomal sequences included in the vector may appear as a single segment in the vector, which results in the integration of the complete vector, or as two segments homologous to adjacent segments in the chromosome and flanking the expression construct in the vector, which it can result in the stable integration of only the expression construct.

Usually, extrachromosomal and integration expression constructs may contain selectable markers to allow selection of yeast strains that have been transformed. Selectable markers can include biosynthetic genes that can be expressed in the yeast host, such as ADE2, HIS4, LEU2, TRP1 and ALG7 and the G418 resistance gene, which confers resistance in tunicamycin and G418 yeast cells, respectively. In addition, a suitable selectable marker can also provide the yeast with the ability to grow in the presence of toxic compounds, such as metal. For example, the presence of CUP1 allows yeast to grow in the presence of copper ions [Butt et al. (1987) Microbiol. Rev.

51: 351].

Alternatively, some of the components described above may be placed together in transformation vectors. Transformation vectors usually comprise a selectable marker that is maintained in a replicon or developed within an integration vector, as described above.

Expression and transformation vectors, extrachromosomal replicons or integration vectors, have been developed for transformation in many yeasts. For example, expression vectors have been developed for, among others, the following yeasts: Candida albicans [Kurtz, et al. (1986); Mol. Cell Biol. 6: 142], Candida maltose [Kunze et al. (1985) J. Basic Microbiol. 25: 141]; Hansenula polymorpha [Gleeson, et al., (1986), J. Gen. Microbiol. 132: 3459; Roggenkamp et al., (1986) Mol. Gen. Genet. 202: 302], Kluyveromyces fragilis [Das, et al. (1984) J. Bacteriol. 158: 1165]; Kluyveromyces lactis [De Louvencourt et al. (1983), J. Bacteriol. 154: 737; Van den Berg et al. (1990), Bio / Technology 8: 135]; Pichia guillerimondii [Kunze et al., (1985) J. Basic Microbiol. 25: 141]; Pichia pastoris [Cregg, et al (1985), Mol. Cell Biol. 5: 3376; U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,148 and 4,929,555]; Saccharomyces cerevisiae [Hinnen et al. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 1929; Ito et al., (1983) J. Bacteriol.

153: 163]; Schizosaccharomyces pombe [Beach and Nurse (1981) Nature 300: 706]; and Yarrowia lipolytica [Davidow, et al., (1985) Curr. Genet 10: 380471, Gaillardin, et al. (1985) Curr. Genet 10:49].

Methods for introducing exogenous DNA into yeast hosts are well known in the art, and usually include the transformation of spheroplasts or the transformation of intact yeast cells treated with alkaline cations. The transformation procedures usually vary with the yeast species to be transformed. See for example [Kurtz et al. (1986) Mol. Cell Biol. 6: 142; Kunze et al. (1985) J. Basic Microbiol. 25: 141; Candida]; [Gleeson, et al., (1986), J. Gen. Microbiol. 132: 3459; Roggenkamp et al., (1986) Mol. Gen. Genet.

202: 302; Hansenula]; [Das, et al. (1984) J. Bacteriol. 158: 1165; De Louvencourt et al. (1983), J. Bacteriol. 154: 1165; Van den Berg et al. (1990), Bio / Technology 8: 135; Kluyveromyces]; [Cregg, et al (1985), Mol. Cell Biol. 5: 3376; Kunze et al. (1985); J. Basic Microbiol. 25: 141; U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,148 and 4,929,555; Pichia]; [Hinnen et al. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 1929; Ito et al. (1983) J. Bacteriol. 153: 163 Saccharomyces]; [Beach and Nurse (1981) Nature 300: 706; Schizosaccharomyces]; [Davidow, et al., (1985) Curr. Genet 10: 39; Gaillardin, et al. (1985) Curr. Genet 10: 49; Yarrowia].

Antibodies

As used herein, the term "antibody" refers to a polypeptide or a group of polypeptides composed of at least one antibody combination site. An "antibody combination site" is the three-dimensional binding space with an internal surface shape and a charge distribution complementary to the characteristics of an epitope of an antigen, which allows an antibody to bind the antigen. "Antibody" includes, for example, vertebrate antibodies, hybrid antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, altered antibodies, univalent antibodies, Fab proteins and single domain antibodies.

Antibodies against the proteins of the invention are useful for affinity chromatography, immunoassays and Neisseria protein distinction / identification.

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Antibodies obtained against the proteins of the invention, polyclonal and monoclonal, can be prepared by conventional procedures. In general, the protein is first used to immunize a suitable animal, preferably a mouse, rat, rabbit or goat. Rabbits and goats are preferably preferred for the preparation of polyclonal sera due to the volume of serum obtainable, and the availability of labeled anti-rabbit and anti-goat antibodies. Immunization is generally performed by mixing or emulsifying the protein in saline solution, preferably in an adjuvant such as Freund's complete adjuvant, and injecting the mixture or emulsion parenterally (generally subcutaneously or intramuscularly). Typically a dose of 50-200 μg / injection is sufficient. Immunization is generally reinforced 2-6 weeks later with one or more injections of the protein in saline, preferably using incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Alternatively, antibodies can be generated by in vitro immunization using methods known in the art, which for the purposes of this invention is considered equivalent to immunization in vivo. Polyclonal antisera are obtained by extracting blood from immunized animals in a glass or plastic container, incubating the blood at 25 ° C for 1 hour, followed by incubation at 4 ° C for 2-18 hours. The serum is recovered by centrifugation (for example, at 1000 g for 10 minutes). Approximately 20-50 ml can be obtained by drawing blood from rabbits.

Monoclonal antibodies are prepared using the conventional method of Kohler and Milstein [Nature (1975) 256: 495-496], or one of its modifications. Typically, a mouse or rat is immunized as described above. However, instead of extracting blood from the animal to extract the serum, the spleen (and optionally several large lymph nodes) is removed and dissociated into single cells. If desired, spleen cells can be selected (after removing non-specific adherent cells) by applying a cell suspension to a plate or a well coated with the protein antigen. B cells expressing antigen-specific membrane bound immunoglobulin bind to the plate and are not removed by rinsing with the rest of the suspension. The resulting B cells, or all dissociated spleen cells, are then induced to fuse with myeloma cells to form hybridomas, and cultured in a selective medium (eg, hypoxanthine, aminopterin, thymidine, "HAT" media ). The resulting hybridomas are plated by limiting dilution, and tested for the production of antibodies that specifically bind to the immunizing antigen (and that do not bind unrelated antigens). Selected hybridomas that secrete MAB are then grown in vitro (for example, in tissue culture jars or in hollow fiber reactors) or in vivo (as ascites in mice).

If desired, antibodies (polyclonal or monoclonal) can be labeled using conventional techniques. Suitable markers include fluorophores, chromophores, radioactive atoms (particularly 32P and 125I), electron-dense reagents, enzymes and ligands that have specific binding partners. Enzymes are normally detected by their activity. For example, horseradish peroxidase is usually detected by its ability to convert 3,3 ’, 5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to a blue pigment, quantifiable with a spectrophotometer. "Specific binding partners" refers to a protein capable of binding a ligand molecule with high specificity, such as in the case of an antigen and a specific monoclonal antibody for it. Other specific binding partners include biotin and avidin or streptavidin, IgG and protein A, and the numerous receptor-ligand couples known in the art. It should be understood that the above description is not intended to categorize the various markers into different classes, since the same marker can serve in several different ways. For example, 125I can serve as a radioactive label or as a dense electron reagent. HRP can serve as an enzyme or as an antigen for a MAb. In addition, various markers can be combined for the desired effect. For example, MAb and avidin also require markers in the practice of this invention: therefore, a MAb can be labeled with biotin, and its presence detected with avidin labeled with 125I, or with an anti-biotin MAb labeled with HRP. Other permutations and possibilities will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and are considered as equivalent within the scope of the present invention.

Pharmaceutical compositions

The pharmaceutical compositions may comprise polypeptides, antibodies or nucleic acids of the invention. The pharmaceutical compositions will comprise a therapeutically effective amount of polypeptides, antibodies,

or polynucleotides of the claimed invention.

The term "therapeutically effective amount", as used herein refers to an amount of a therapeutic agent to treat, improve or avoid a desired disease or condition, or to show a detectable therapeutic or preventive effect. The effect can be detected by, for example, levels of chemical markers or antigens. The therapeutic effects also include reduction in physical symptoms, such as decreased body temperature. The exact effective amount for a subject will depend on the size and health of the subject, the nature and extent of the condition, and the therapeutic agents or combination of therapeutic agents selected for administration. Therefore, it is not useful to specify an exact effective amount in advance. However, the effective amount for a given situation can be determined by routine experimentation and is within the judgment of the doctor.

For the purposes of the present invention, an effective dose will be from about 0.01 mg / kg to 50 mg / kg or 0.05 mg / kg to about 10 mg / kg of the DNA constructs in the individual to which they are administered .

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A pharmaceutical composition may also contain a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The term "pharmaceutically acceptable carrier" refers to a vehicle for the administration of a therapeutic agent, such as antibodies or a polypeptide, genes and other therapeutic agents. The term refers to any pharmaceutical vehicle that does not induce itself the production of antibodies harmful to the individual receiving the composition, and which can be administered without undue toxicity. Suitable carriers can be large, slowly metabolized macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, polylactic acids, polyglycolic acids, polymeric amino acids, amino acid copolymers and inactive virus particles. Such vehicles are well known to those skilled in the art.

Pharmaceutically acceptable salts may be used therein, for example, salts of mineral acids such as hydrochlorides, hydrobromides, phosphates, sulfates, and the like; and salts of organic acids such as acetates, propionates, malonates, benzoates and the like. An exhaustive discussion of pharmaceutically acceptable excipients is available in the Remington Pharmaceutical Sciences document (Mack Pub. Co. N.J. 1991).

Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers in the therapeutic compositions may contain liquids such as water, saline, glycerol and ethanol. In addition, auxiliary substances, such as wetting agents or emulsifying agents, pH regulating substances, and the like may be present in such vehicles. Typically, therapeutic compositions are prepared as injectables, as liquid solutions or as liquid suspensions; Solid forms suitable for dissolution in, or suspension in, liquid vehicles before injection can also be prepared. Liposomes are included within the definition of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Administration Procedures

Once formulated, the compositions of the invention can be administered directly to the subject. The subjects to be treated may be animals; in particular, human subjects can be treated.

Direct administration of the compositions will generally be done by injection, subcutaneously, intraperitoneally, intravenously or intramuscularly or they will be administered in the interstitial space of a tissue. The compositions can also be administered in an injury. Other modes of administration include oral and pulmonary administration, suppositories and transdermal and transcutaneous applications (for example see WO 98/20734), needles, and gene guns or hypospray injectors. The dosage treatment can be a single dose program or a multiple dose program.

Vaccinations

Vaccines according to the invention can be prophylactic (that is, to prevent infection) or therapeutic (that is, to treat the disease after infection).

Such vaccines comprise antigen (s), immunogen (s), polypeptide (s), protein (s) or immunizing nucleic acids, usually in combination with "pharmaceutically acceptable carriers" that include any vehicle that does not induce antibody production by itself. Harmful to the individual receiving the composition. Suitable carriers are normally large, slowly metabolized macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, polylactic acids, polyglycolic acids, polymeric amino acids, amino acid copolymers, lipid aggregates (such as oil droplets or liposomes) and inactivated virus particles. Such vehicles are well known to those skilled in the art. In addition, these vehicles can function as immunostimulatory agents ("adjuvants"). In addition, the immunogen or antigen can be conjugated with a bacterial toxoid, such as a diphtheria toxoid, tetanus, cholera, H. pylori, etc. pathogens

Preferably adjuvants to enhance the effectiveness of the composition include, but are not limited to: (1) aluminum salts (alum), such as aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, aluminum sulfate, etc .; (2) oil-in-water emulsion formulations (with or without other specific immunostimulatory agents such as muramyl peptides (see below) or bacterial cell wall components), such as for example (a) MF59 ™ (WO 90 / 14837; Chapter 10 in Vaccine design: the subunit and adjuvant approach, eds. Powell & Newman, Plenum Press 1995) containing 5% squalene, 0.5% Tween 80 and 0.5% Span 85 (containing optionally various amounts of MTP-PE (see below), although not required) formulated in submicron particles using a microfluidizer such as the model 110Y microfluidizer (Microfluidics, Newton, MA), (b) SAF, containing 10% squalane , 0.4% Tween 80; L121 polymer blocked with 5% pluronic, and thr-MDP (see below) microfluidized in a submicrometric or vortexed emulsion to generate a larger particle size emulsion and (c) the Ribi ™ adjuvant system (RAS), ( Ribi Immunochem, Hamilton, MT) containing 2% squalene, Tween 80 to 0.2%, and one or more components of the bacterial cell wall of the group consisting of monophosphorylipid A (MPL), trehalose dimicolate (TDM), and cell wall skeleton (CWS), preferably MPL + CWS (Detox ™); (3) Saponin adjuvants, such as Stimulon ™ (Cambridge Bioscience, Worcester, MA) or particles generated therefrom such as ISCOM (immunostimulatory complexes); (4) Freund's Complete Adjuvant (CFA) and Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant (IFA); (5) cytokines, such as interleukins (for example, IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-12, etc.), interferons (for example, interferon gamma), macrophage colony stimulating factor (M

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CSF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), etc .; and (6) other substances that act as immunostimulatory agents to increase the effectiveness of the composition. Alum and MF59 ™ G are preferably preferred.

As mentioned earlier, muramyl peptides include, but are not limited to, N-acetyl-muramyl-Ltreonyl-D-isoglutamine (thr-MDP), N-acetyl-normuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (nor- MDP), N-acetylmuramyl-Lalanyl-Disoglutamyl-L-alanine-2- (1'-2'-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycerol-3-hydroxyphosphoryloxy) -ethylamine (MTP-PE), etc.

Immunogenic compositions (eg, the immunizing antigen / immunogen / polypeptide / protein / nucleic acid, the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and adjuvant) will typically contain diluents, such as water, saline, glycerol, ethanol, etc. In addition, auxiliary substances, such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering substances, and the like may be present in such vehicles.

Typically, immunogenic compositions are prepared as injectables, in the form of liquid solutions or in the form of liquid suspensions; Solid forms suitable for dissolution in, or suspension in, liquid vehicles can be prepared before injection. The preparation can also be emulsified or encapsulated in liposomes for an enhanced adjuvant effect, as described above in pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.

The immunogenic compositions used as vaccines comprise an immunologically effective amount of the antigenic or immunogenic polypeptides, as well as any other of the components mentioned above, as necessary. By "immunologically effective amount", it is understood that the administration of this amount to an individual, in a single dose or as part of a series, is effective for treatment or prevention. This amount varies depending on the health and physical condition of the individual to be treated, the taxonomic group of the individual to be treated (for example, non-human primate, primate, etc.), the ability of the individual's immune system to synthesize antibodies, the degree of protection desired, the formulation of the vaccine, the evaluation of the treating physician of the medical situation, and other relevant factors. The amount is expected to be within a relatively wide range that can be determined through routine tests.

The immunogenic compositions are conventionally administered parenterally, for example, by injection, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or transdermally / transcutaneously (eg WO 98/20734). Other formulations suitable for other modes of administration include oral and pulmonary formulations, suppositories and transdermal applications. The dosage treatment can be a single dose program and a multiple dose program. The vaccine can be administered together with other immunoregulatory agents.

As an alternative to protein-based vaccines, DNA vaccination can be used [eg, Robinson & Torres (1997) Seminars in Immunology 9: 271-283; Donnelly et al. (1997) Annu Rev Immunol 15: 617648); see below in this document].

Vehicles for gene administration

Gene therapy vehicles for the administration of constructs, including a coding sequence of a therapeutic compound of the invention, for administration to the mammal for expression in the mammal, can be administered locally or systemically. These constructs can use viral or non-viral vector approaches in in vivo or ex vivo mode. Expression of such a coding sequence can be induced using endogenous mammalian promoters or heterologous promoters. The expression of the coding sequence in vivo can be constitutive or regulated.

The invention includes gene delivery vehicles capable of expressing the contemplated nucleic acid sequences. The gene delivery vehicle is preferably a viral vector and, more preferably, a retroviral, adenoviral, adeno-associated viral (AAV), viral or alpha virus herpes vector. The viral vector can also be a viral vector of astrovirus, coronavirus, orthomyxovirus, papovavirus, paramyxovirus, parvovirus, picornavirus, poxvirus or togavirus. See generally, Jolly (1994) Cancer Gene Therapy 1: 51-64; Kimura (1994) Human Gene Therapy 5: 845-852; Connelly (1995) Human Gene Therapy 6: 185-193; and Kaplitt (1994) Nature Genetics 6: 148-153.

Retroviral vectors are well known in the art and we contemplate that any retroviral gene therapy vector can be used in the invention, including type B, C and D retroviruses, xenotropic retroviruses (eg, NZB-X1, NZB-X2 and NZB9- 1 (see O'Neill (1985) J. Virol, 53: 160)) polytropic retroviruses for example, MCF and MCF-MLV (see Kelly (1983) J. Virol. 45: 291), foamvirus and lentivirus. See RNA Tumor Viruses, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1985.

Portions of the retroviral gene therapy vector can be obtained from different retroviruses. For example, LTR from retrovectors of a Murine Sarcoma Virus, a tRNA binding site of a Rous Sarcoma Virus, a packaging signal of a Murine Leukemia Virus, and an origin of the second strand synthesis of an Avian Leukosis Virus.

These recombinant retroviral vectors can be used to generate retroviral vector particles competent for transduction by introducing them into appropriate packaging cell lines (see US Patent 5,591,624). Retrovirus vectors can be constructed for site-specific integration into cell DNA.

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host by incorporation of a chimeric integrase enzyme into the retroviral particle (see WO 96/37626). It is preferred that the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant replication defective virus.

Packaging cell lines suitable for use with the retrovirus vectors described above are well known in the art, are easily prepared (see WO 95/30763 and WO 92/05266), and can be used to create producing cell lines (also called vector cell lines or "VCL") for the production of recombinant vector particles. Preferably, the packaging cell lines are prepared from human parental cells (for example HT1080 cells) or mink parental cell lines, which eliminate inactivation in human serum.

Preferred retroviruses for the construction of retroviral gene therapy vectors include Avian Leukosis Virus, Bovine Leukemia Virus, Murine Leukemia Virus, Virus that Induces Focuses on Mink Cells, Murine Sarcoma Virus, Reticuloendotheliosis Virus and Rous sarcoma virus. Particularly preferred murine leukemia viruses include 4070A and 1504A (Hartley and Rowe (1976) J. Virol. 19: 19-25), Abelson (ATCC No. VR-999), Friend (ATCC No. VR-245), Graffi, Gross (ATCC No. VR-590), Kirsten, Harvey and Rauscher Sarcoma Virus (ATCC No. VR-998) and Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (ATCC No. VR-190). Such retroviruses can be obtained from deposits or collections such as the American Type Culture Collection ("ATCC") in Rockville, Maryland or isolated from known sources using commonly available techniques.

Exemplary known retroviral gene therapy vectors that can be used in the present invention include those described in patent applications GB 2200651, EP 0415731, EP 0345242, EP 0334301, WO 89/02468; WO 89/05349, WO 89/09271, WO 90/02806, WO 90/07936, WO 94/03622, WO 93/25698, WO 93/25234, WO 93/11230, WO 93/10218, WO 91/02805, WO 91/02825, WO 95/07994, US 5,219,740, US 4,405,712, US 4,861,719, US 4,980,289, US 4,777,127, US 5,591,624. See also Vile (1993) Cancer Res 53: 3860-3864; Vile (1993) Cancer Res 53: 962-967; Ram (1993) Cancer Res 53 (1993) 83-88; Takamiya (1992) J Neurosci Res 33: 493-503; Baba (1993) J Neurosurg 79: 729-735; Mann (1983) Cell 33: 153; Cane (1984) Proc Natl Acad Sci 81: 6349; and Miller (1990) Human Gene Therapy 1.

Human adenovirus gene therapy vectors are also known in the art and can be used in the present invention. See, for example, Berkner (1988) Biotechniques 6: 616 and Rosenfeld (1991) Science 252: 431, and WO 93/07283, WO 93/06223, and WO 93/07282. Exemplary adenovirus gene therapy vectors that can be used in the present invention include those described in the aforementioned documents and in WO 94/12649, WO 93/03769, WO 93/19191, WO 94/28938 , WO 95/11984, WO 95/00655, WO 95/27071, WO 95/29993, WO 95/34671, WO 96/05320, WO 94/08026, WO 94/11506, WO 93/06223, WO 94/24299 , WO 95/14102, WO 95/24297, WO 95/02697, WO 94/28152, WO 94/24299, WO 95/09241, WO 95/25807, WO 95/05835, WO 94/18922 and WO 95/09654 . Alternatively, administration of inactivated adenovirus-bound DNA can be used as described in Curiel (1992) Hum. Gene Ther. 3: 147-154. The gene delivery vehicles of the invention also include adenovirus-associated virus (AAV) vectors. Main and preferred examples of such vectors for use in the present invention are AAV-2 based vectors disclosed in Srivastava, WO 93/09239. The most preferred AAV vectors comprise the two inverted terminal AAV repeats in which the native D sequences are modified by nucleotide substitution, such that at least 5 native nucleotides and up to 18 native nucleotides are preserved, preferably at least 10 nucleotides native and up to 18 native nucleotides, more preferably 10 native nucleotides and the remaining nucleotides of the D sequence are deleted or replaced with non-native nucleotides. The native D sequences of the inverted terminal repeats of AAV are sequences of 20 consecutive nucleotides in each inverted terminal repeat of AAV (i.e., there is a sequence at each end) that are not involved in the formation of HP. The non-native substitution nucleotide can be any nucleotide other than the nucleotide found in the native D sequence in the same position. Other exemplary AAV vectors that can be used are pWP-19, pWN-1 both disclosed in Nahreini (1993) Gene 124: 257-262. Another example of such AAV vectors is psub201 (see Samulski (1987) J. Virol. 61: 3096). Another example AAV vector is the Double-D IRT vector. The construction of the ITR Double D vector is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,478,745. Still other vectors are those disclosed in US Patent No.

4,797,368 to Carter and US Pat. 5,139,941 to Muzyczka, in US Pat. 5,474,935 to Chartejee and in WO 94/282157 to Kotin. Yet another example of an AAV vector that can be used in the present invention is SSV9AFABTKneo, which contains the AFP enhancer and albumin promoter and directs expression predominantly in the liver. Its structure and construction are disclosed in Su (1996) Human Gene Therapy 7: 463-470. Additional USA gene therapy vectors are described in US 5,354,678, US 5,173,414, US 5,139,941 and US 5,252,479.

The gene therapy vectors of the invention also include herpes vectors. Main and preferably examples are herpes simplex virus vectors that contain a sequence encoding a thymidine kinase polypeptide such as those described in US 5,288,641 and EP 0176170 (Roizman). Other example herpes simplex virus vectors include HFEM / lCP6-LacZ disclosed in WO 95/04139 (Wistar Institute), pHSVlac described in Geller (1988) Science 241: 1667-1669 and in WO 90/09441 and WO 92/07945, HSV Us3 :: pgC-lacZ described in Fink (1992) Human Gene Therapy 3: 11-19 and HSV 7134, 2 RH 105 and

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GAL4 described in EP 0453242 (Breakefield), and those deposited in the ATCC with access numbers ATCC VR-977 and ATCC VR-260.

Also contemplated are alpha virus gene therapy vectors that can be used in the present invention. Preferred alpha virus vectors are the vectors of the Sindbis, Togavirus, Semliki Forest virus (ATCC VR-67, ATCC VR-1247), Middleberg virus (ATCC VR-370), Ross River virus (ATCC VR-373; ATCC VR-1246), Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (ATCC VR923; ATCC VR-1250; ATCC VR-1249; ATCC VR-532), and those described in US Pat. 5,091,309, 5,217,879, and in WO 92/10578. More particularly, the alpha virus vectors described in WO 94/21792, WO 92/10578, WO 95/07994, US 5,091,309 and US

5,217,879 are usable. Such alpha viruses can be obtained from deposits or collections such as the ATCC in Rockville, Maryland or isolated from known sources using commonly available techniques. Preferably, alpha virus vectors with reduced cytotoxicity are used.

DNA vector systems such as eukaryotic layer expression systems are also useful for expressing the nucleic acids of the invention. See WO 95/07994 for a detailed description of eukaryotic layer expression systems. Preferably, the eukaryotic layer expression systems of the invention are obtained from alpha virus vectors and most preferably from Sindbis viral vectors.

Other viral vectors suitable for use in the present invention include poliovirus derivatives, for example ATCC VR-58 and those described in Evans, Nature 339 (1989) 385 and Sabin (1973) J. Biol. Standardization 1: 115; Rhinoviruses, for example ATCC VR-1110 and those described in Arnold (1990) J Cell Biochem L401; poxvirus such as canary poxvirus or vaccine virus, for example ATCC VR-111 and ATCC VR2010 and those described in Fisher-Hoch (1989) Proc. Natl Acad Sci 86: 317; Flexner (1989) Ann NY Acad Sci 569: 86, Flexner (1990) Vaccine 8: 17; in US 4,603,112 and US 4,769,330 and in WO 89/01973; SV40 virus, for example ATCC VR-305 and those described in Mulligan (1979) Nature 277: 108 and Madzak (1992) J Gen Virol 73: 1533; influenza viruses, for example ATCC VR-797 and recombinant influenza viruses prepared using inverse genetic techniques as described in US.

5,166,057 and in Enami (1990) Proc Natl Acad Sci 87: 3802-3805; Enami and Palese (1991) J Virol 65: 2711-2713 and Luytjes (1989) Cell 59: 110, (see also McMichael (1983) NEJ Med 309: 13, and Yap (1978) Nature 273: 238 and Nature (1979) 277: 108); Human immunodeficiency virus as described in EP-0386882 and in Buchschacher (1992) J. Virol. 66: 2731, measles virus, for example ATCC VR-67 and VR-1247 and those described in EP-0440219; Aura virus, for example ATCC VR-368; Bebaru virus, for example ATCC VR-600 and ATCC VR-1240; Cabassou virus, for example ATCC VR-922; Chikungunya virus, for example ATCC VR-64 and ATCC VR1241; Fort Morgan virus, for example ATCC VR-924; Getah virus, for example ATCC VR-369 and ATCC VR-1243; Kyzylagach virus, for example ATCC VR-927; Mayaro virus, for example ATCC VR-66; Mucambo virus, for example ATCC VR-580 and ATCC VR-1244; Ndumu virus, for example ATCC VR-371; Pixuna virus, for example ATCC VR-372 and ATCC VR-1245; Tonate virus, for example ATCC VR-925; Triniti virus, for example ATCC VR-469; Una virus, for example ATCC VR-374; Whataroa virus, for example ATCC VR-926; Y-62-33 virus, for example ATCC VR-375; O’Nyong virus, Eastern encephalitis virus, for example ATCC VR-65 and ATCC VR-1242; Western encephalitis virus, for example ATCC VR-70, ATCC VR-1251, ATCC VR-622 and ATCC VR-1252; and coronaviruses, for example ATCC VR-740 and those described in Hamre (1966) Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 121: 190.

The administration of the compositions of this invention within cells is not limited to the viral vectors mentioned above. Other methods and means of administration may be used such as, for example nucleic acid expression vectors, polycationic condensed DNA bound or not bound to adenoviruses alone inactivated, for example see Curiel (1992) Hum Gene Ther 3: 147-154, DNA ligand bound, for example see Wu (1989) J Biol Chem 264: 16985-16987, vehicle cells for administration of eukaryotic cells, for example see US Pat. 60/5686, reservoir of light-cured hydrogel materials, manually operated gene transfer particle gun, as described in US Pat. 5,149,655, ionizing radiation as described in US 5,206,152 and in WO 92/11033, neutralization of nucleic charge or fusion with cell membranes. Other approaches are described in Philip (1994) Mol Cell Biol 14: 2411-2418 and in Woffendin (1994) Proc Natl Acad Sci 91: 1581-1585.

Particle-mediated gene transfer can be used. Briefly, the sequence can be inserted into conventional vectors containing conventional control sequences for high level of expression, and then incubated with synthetic gene transfer molecules such as polymeric DNA binding cations such as polylysine, protamine and albumin, bound to ligands. targeting cells such as asialoorosomucoid, as described in Wu & Wu (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262: 4429-4432, insulin as described in Hucked (1990) Biochem Pharmacol 40: 253-263, galactose as described in Plank (1992) Bioconjugate Chem 3: 533-539, lactose or transferrin.

Naked DNA can also be used. The example naked DNA introduction procedures are described in WO 90/11092 and in US 5,580,859. The efficiency of the uptake can be improved using biodegradable latex beads. DNA coated latex pearls are efficiently transported into cells after endocytosis initiation by pearls. The procedure can be further improved by treating the beads to increase hydrophobia and thereby facilitate the alteration of the endosome and the release of DNA to the cytoplasm.

image10

Liposomes that can act as gene delivery vehicles are described in U.S. documents. 5,422,120, WO 95/13796, WO 94/23697, WO 91/144 and EP-524,968. Nucleic acid sequences encoding a polypeptide can be inserted into conventional vectors containing conventional control sequences for a high level of expression and can then be incubated with synthetic gene transfer molecules such as polymeric DNA binding cations, such as polylysine. , protamine and albumin, bound to ligands targeting cells such as asialoorosomucoid, insulin, galactose, lactose or transferrin. Other delivery systems include the use of liposomes to encapsulate DNA that comprises the gene under the control of various tissue-specific promoters or ubiquitously active. Another conventional non-viral administration suitable for use includes mechanical delivery systems such as the approach described in Woffendin et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91 (24): 11581-11585. In addition, the coding sequence and the product of the expression of such coding sequence can be administered through the depot of photopolymerized hydrogel materials. Other conventional procedures for the administration of genes that can be used to administer the

Sequence coding includes, for example, the use of hand-held gene transfer particle guns, as described in U.S. 5,149,655; use of ionizing radiation to activate a transferred gene, as described in U.S. documents. 5,206,152 and WO 92/11033.

Example polycationic and liposome gene delivery vehicles are those described in US 5,422,120 and 4,762,915; in WO 95/13796; WO 94/23697 and WO 91/1444; in document EP-0524968; and in Stryer, Biochemistry, pages 236-240 (1975) W.H. Freeman, San Francisco; Szoka (1980) Biochem Biophys Acta 600: 1; Bayer (1979) Biochem Biophys Acta 550: 464; Rivnay (1987) Meth Enzymol

149: 119; Wang (1987) Proc Natl Acad Sci 84: 7851; Plant (1989) Anal Biochem 176: 420.

A polynucleotide composition may comprise a therapeutically effective amount of a gene therapy vehicle, as the term defined above. For the purposes of the present invention, a dose

Effective will be from about 0.01 mg / kg to 50 mg / kg or from 0.05 mg / kg to about 10 mg / kg of DNA constructs in the individual to which they are administered.

Administration Procedures

Once formulated, the polynucleotide compositions of the invention can be administered (1) directly to the subject; (2) they can be delivered ex vivo, to cells derived from the subject, or (3) administered in vitro for expression

30 of recombinant proteins. The subjects to be treated may be mammals or birds. In addition, human subjects can be treated.

Direct administration of the compositions will generally be achieved by injection, subcutaneously, intraperitoneally, intravenously or intramuscularly or they will be administered in the interstitial space of a tissue. The compositions can also be administered within an injury. Other modes of administration include

Oral and pulmonary administration, suppositories, and transdermal or transcutaneous applications (see eg WO 98/20734), needles, and gene guns or injectors of the hypospray type. The dosage treatment can be a single dose program or a multiple dose program.

Methods for ex vivo administration and reimplantation of transformed cells in a subject are known in the art and are described for example in WO 93/14778. Examples of useful cells in

40 ex vivo applications include, for example, stem cells, particularly hematopoietic, lymphatic cells, macrophages, dendritic cells or tumor cells.

Generally, the administration of nucleic acids for ex vivo and in vitro applications can be performed by the following procedures, for example, dextran-mediated transfection, calcium phosphate precipitation, polybrene-mediated transfection, protoplast fusion, electroporation, polynucleotide encapsulation ( s) in

45 liposomes, and direct microinjection of DNA into the nuclei, all well known in the art.

Pharmaceutical compositions of polynucleotides and polypeptides

In addition to the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and salts described above, the following additional agents can be used with polynucleotide and / or polypeptide compositions.

A. Polypeptides

An example are polypeptides that include, without limitation: asioloorosomucoid (ASOR); transferrin; asialoglycoproteins; antibodies; antibody fragments; ferritin; interleukins; interferons, granulocyte and macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), stem cell factor and erythropoietin. Viral antigens, such as envelope proteins, can also be used. Also, proteins from other invading organisms,

55 such as the 17 amino acid peptide of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein known as RII. twenty

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B. Hormones, Vitamins, etc.

Other groups that may be included are, for example: hormones, steroids, androgens, estrogens, thyroid hormone or vitamins, folic acid.

C. Polyalkylenes, Polysaccharides, etc.

In addition, polyalkylene glycol may be included with the desired polynucleotides or polypeptides. In a preferred embodiment, the polyalkylene glycol is polyethylene glycol. In addition, mono-, di- or polysaccharides may be included. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the polysaccharide is dextran or DEAEdextrane. Also, chitosan and poly (lactide-co-glycolide).

D. Lipids and Liposomes

The desired polynucleotide or polypeptide can also be encapsulated in lipids or packaged in liposomes before administration to the subject or to cells obtained therefrom.

Lipid encapsulation is generally performed using liposomes that are capable of stably binding or trapping and conserving nucleic acid. The proportion of condensed polynucleotide for lipid preparation may vary but will generally be about 1: 1 (mg of DNA: lipid micromoles) or more of lipid. For a review of the use of liposomes as vehicles for nucleic acid administration, see Hug and Sleight (1991) Biochim, Biophys. Minutes 1097: 1-17; Straubinger (1983) Meth. Enzymol 101: 512-527.

Liposome preparations for use in the present invention include cationic (positively charged), anionic (negatively charged) and neutral preparations. Cationic liposomes have been shown to mediate intracellular administration of plasmid DNA (Felgner (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 74137416); MRNA (Malone (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 6077-6081); and purified transcription factors (Debs (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265: 10189-10192), in functional form.

Cationic liposomes are readily available. For example, liposomes of N [1- (2,3-diioleiloxy) propyl] -N, N, N-triethylammonium (DOTMA) are available under the trademark Lipofectin of GIBCO BRL, Grand Island, NY. (See also Felgner cited above). Other commercially available liposomes include transfectace (DDAB / DOPE) and DOTA / DOPE (Boerhinger). Other cationic liposomes can be prepared from readily available materials using techniques well known in the art. See, for example Szoka (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 4194-4198; WO 901/1092 for a description of the synthesis of liposomes of DOTAP (1,2-bis (oleyloxy) -3- (trimethylammonium) propane).

Similarly, anionic and neutral liposomes are readily available, such as from Avanti Polar Lipids (Birmingham, AL) or can be easily prepared using readily available materials. Such materials include phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, phosphatidylethanolamine, dioleylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), dioleylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG), dioleylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), among others. These materials can also be mixed with the DOTMA and DOTAP starting materials in appropriate proportions. Procedures for preparing liposomes using these materials are well known in the art.

Liposomes may comprise multilamellar vesicles (MLV), small unilamellar vesicles (SUV), or large unilamellar vesicles (LUV). The various liposome-nucleic acid complexes are prepared using methods known in the art. See for example Straubinger (1983) Meth. Immunol 101: 512-527; Szoka (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 4194-4198; Papahadjopoulos (1975) Biochim. Biophys Minutes 394: 483; Wilson (1979) Cell 17: 77); Deamer & Bangham (1976) Biochim. Biophys Minutes 443: 629; Ostro (1977) Biochem. Biophys Res. Commun. 76: 836; Fraley (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76: 3348); Enoch & Strittmatter (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76: 145; Fraley (1980) J. Biol. Chem. (1980) 255: 10431; Szoka & Papahadjopoulos (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 145; and Schaefer-Ridder (1982) Science 215: 166.

E. Lipoproteins

In addition, lipoproteins with the polynucleotide or polypeptide to be administered may be included. Examples of lipoproteins to be used include: chylomicrons, HDL, IDL, LDL and VLDL. Mutants, fragments or condensations of these proteins can also be used. In addition, modifications of naturally occurring lipoproteins, such as acetylated LDL, can be used. These lipoproteins can direct the administration of polynucleotides to cells that express lipoprotein receptors. Preferably, if lipoproteins are included with the polynucleotide to be administered, no other target ligand is included in the composition.

Naturally occurring lipoproteins comprise a lipid and a protein portion. The protein portion is known as apoproteins. Currently, apoproteins A, B, C, D and E. have been isolated and identified. At least two of these contain several proteins, named by Roman numerals AI, AII, AIV; CI, CII, CIII.

A lipoprotein may comprise more than one apoprotein. For example, chylomicrons that occur in nature include A, B, C and E, over time these lipoproteins lose A and acquire apoproteins C and

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E. VLDL comprises apoproteins A, B, C and E, LDL comprises apoprotein B; and HDL comprises apoproteins A, C and E.

The amino acids of these apoproteins are known and described in, for example, Breslow (1985) Annu Rev. Biochem 54: 699; Law (1986) Adv. Exp Med. Biol. 151: 162; Chen (1986) J Biol Chem 261: 12918; Kane (1980) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77: 2465; and Utermann (1984) Hum Genet 65: 232.

Lipoproteins contain various lipids including triglycerides, cholesterol (free and in the form of esters) and phospholipids. The composition of lipids varies in lipoproteins that occur in nature. For example, chylomicrons mainly comprise triglycerides. A more detailed description of the lipid content of lipoproteins that occur in nature can be found, for example, in Meth. Enzymol 128 (1986). The lipid composition is selected to aid in the conformation of apoprotein for receptor binding activity. The lipid composition can also be selected to facilitate hydrophobic interaction and association with the polynucleotide binding molecule.

Naturally occurring lipoproteins can be isolated from serum by, for example, ultracentrifugation. Such procedures are described in Meth Enzymol (cited above); Pitas (1980) J. Biochem. 255: 54545460 and Mahey (1979) J Clin. Invest 64: 743-750. Lipoproteins can also be produced by in vitro or recombinant procedures by expression of apoprotein genes in a desired host cell. See for example, Atkinson (1986) Annu Rev Biophys Chem 15: 403 and Radding (1958) Biochim Biophys Acta 30: 443. Lipoproteins can also be purchased from commercial suppliers, such as Biomedical Technologies, Inc., Stoughton, Massachusetts, USA. A further description of the lipoproteins can be found in Zuckermann et al., WO 98/06437.

F. Polycationic Agents

Polycationic agents may be included, with or without lipoprotein, in a composition with the desired polynucleotide or polypeptide to be administered.

Polycationic agents typically show a positive net charge at a relevant physiological pH and are capable of neutralizing the electrical charge of nucleic acids to facilitate administration to a desired location. These agents have both in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo applications. Polycationic agents can be used to deliver nucleic acids to a living subject intramuscularly, subcutaneously, etc.

The following are examples of polypeptides useful as polycationic agents: polylysine, polyarginine, polyiorithin, and protamine. Other examples include histones, protamines, human serum albumin, DNA binding proteins, non-histone chromosomal proteins, envelope proteins from DNA viruses such as (X174, transcriptional factors also contain domains that bind to DNA and by consequently they can be useful as nucleic acid fusion agents). Briefly, transcriptional factors such as C / CEBP, c-jun, c-fos, AP-1, AP-2, AP-3, CPF, Prot-1, Sp-1, Oct-1, Oct-2, CREP and TFIID contain basic domains that bind to DNA sequences.

Organic polycationic agents include: spermine, spermidine and putrescine.

The dimensions and physical properties of a polycationic agent can be extrapolated from the above list to construct other polycationic polypeptide agents or to produce synthetic polycationic agents.

Synthetic polycationic agents that are useful include, for example, DEAE-dextran, polybenzene, lipofectin ™, and lipofectAMINE ™ which are monomers that form polycationic complexes when combined with polynucleotides.

or polypeptides.

Immunodiagnostic Tests

The Neisseria antigens of the invention can be used in immunoassays to detect antibody levels (or, conversely, anti-Neisseria antibodies can be used to detect antigen levels). Well-defined recombinant antigen based immunoassays can be developed to replace invasive diagnostic procedures. Antibodies to Neisseria proteins can be detected in biological samples, including, for example, blood or serum samples. The design of immunoassays is subject to a great deal of variation, and a variety of these is known in the art. The protocols for the immunoassay can be based, for example, on competition, or on direct reaction, or on sandwich tests. The protocols may also, for example, use solid supports, or they may be by immunoprecipitation. Most assays involve the use of a labeled antibody or polypeptide; the markers can be, for example, fluorescent, chemiluminescent, radioactive or dye molecules. Trials that amplify signals from the probe are also known; of which are examples of tests using biotin and avidin, and enzyme-labeled immunoassays, such as ELISAs.

Suitable kits for immunodiagnostics and containing the appropriate labeled reagents are constructed by packaging the appropriate materials, including the compositions of the invention, in suitable containers, together with the remaining reagents and materials (e.g., suitable buffers, saline solutions, etc.) necessary to perform the test, as well as an adequate series of instructions for the test.

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Hybridization of Nucleic Acids

"Hybridization" refers to the association of two nucleic acid sequences with each other via bonds of

5 hydrogen Typically, one sequence will be fixed to a solid support and the other will be free in solution. Next, the two sequences will be placed in contact with each other under conditions that favor the formation of hydrogen bonds. Factors that affect this bond formation include: the type and volume of the solvent, the reaction temperature; the hybridization time; agitation agents for blocking non-specific binding of the liquid phase sequence to the solid support (Denhardt reagent or BLOTTO); concentration of

10 sequences; use of compounds to increase the sequence association rate (dextran sulfate or polyethylene glycol); and the rigor of washing conditions after hybridization. See Sambrook et al. [cited above] Volume 2, chapter 9, pages 9.47 to 9.57.

"Rigorous" refers to conditions in a hybridization reaction that favor the association of very similar sequences over that of sequences that are different. For example, the combination of temperature and

The salt concentration should be selected so that it is approximately 120 to 200 ° C below the Tf calculated for the hybrid studied. The temperature and conditions of the salts can often be determined empirically in previous experiments in which genomic DNA samples immobilized on filters are hybridized with the sequence of interest and then washed under conditions of different stringency. See Sambrook et al. on page 9.50.

20 The variables to consider when performing, for example, a Southern blot are (1) the complexity of the DNA that is transferred and (2) the homology between the probe and the sequences that are detected. The total amount of the fragment (s) to be studied can vary in a magnitude of 10, between 0.1 and 1 μg for a plasmid or phage digested at 10-9 to 10-8 g from a single copy of the gene in a highly complex eukaryotic genome. For polynucleotides of less complexity, transfer, hybridization, and exposure times can be used substantially

25 shorter, a smaller amount of starting polynucleotides, and less specific activity of the probes. For example, a single copy yeast gene can be detected with an exposure time of only 1 hour starting with 1 μg of yeast DNA, transferring for two hours, and hybridizing for 4-8 hours with a 108 cpm / μg probe . For a single copy mammalian gene, a conservative approach should start with 10 μg of DNA, transfer overnight, and hybridize overnight in the presence of 10% dextran sulfate.

30 using a probe of more than 108 cpm / μg, resulting in an exposure time of approximately 24 hours.

Several factors can affect the melting temperature (Tf) of a DNA-DNA hybrid between the probe and the fragment of interest, and therefore, the appropriate conditions for hybridization and washing. In many cases the probe is not 100% homologous with the fragment. Other commonly found variables include

35 the length and the total G + C content of the hybridization sequences and the ionic strength and the formamide content of the hybridization buffer. The effects of these factors can be related approximately by a single equation:

Tf = 81 + 16.6 (log10Ci) + 0.4 [% (G + C)] -0.6 (% formamide) -600 / n

1.5 (% of mismatch).

40 where Ci is the concentration of salts (monovalent ions) and n is the length of the hybrid in base pairs (slightly modified from Meinkoth & Wahi (1984) Anal. Biochem. 138: 267-284).

When designing a hybridization experiment, some factors that affect nucleic acid hybridization can be conveniently altered. The temperature of the hybridization and of the washings and the concentration of salts during the washing are the easiest to adjust. As the temperature of the hybridization increases (i.e., stringency), hybridization between chains that are non-homologous is less likely, and as a result, the background decreases. If the radiolabelled probe is not completely homologous with the immobilized fragment (as is often the case in gene families and in interspecies hybridization experiments), the hybridization temperature should be reduced and the background will increase. The temperature of the washings affects the intensity of the hybridization band and the degree of background similarly. The rigor of the washes too

50 increases by decreasing the concentration of salts.

In general, suitable hybridization temperatures in the presence of 50% formamide are 42 ° C for a probe that is 95 to 100% homologous with the target fragment, 37 ° C for 90% to 95% homology, and 32 ° C for 85 to 90% homology. For lower homologies, the formamide content would be lowered and the temperature adjusted accordingly, using the above equation. If the homology between the probe and the target fragment is unknown, the simplest approach is to start with both hybridization conditions and washing conditions that are not rigorous. If non-specific bands or a high background are observed after autoradiography, the filter can be washed with high stringency and re-exposed. If the time required for the

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exposure makes this approach impractical, several hybridization and / or washing rigorousnesses must be tested in parallel.

Nucleic acid probe assays

Procedures such as PCR, branched DNA probe assays, or transfer techniques using

5 nucleic acid probes according to the invention can determine the presence of cDNA or mRNA. It is said that a "hybrid" probe with a sequence of the invention can form a duplex or double chain complex, which is stable enough to be detected.

The nucleic acid probes will hybridize with the Neisseria nucleotide sequences of the invention (including sense and antisense chains). Although many different nucleotide sequences will encode the sequence of

10 amino acids, the native Neisseria sequence is preferred since it is the true sequence present in the cells. The mRNA represents a coding sequence and thus a probe would be complementary to the coding sequence; the single chain cDNA is complementary to mRNA, and therefore a cDNA probe would be complementary to the non-coding sequence.

The sequence of the probe does not need to be identical to the sequence of Neisseria (or its complement) - some

Variations in sequence and length can lead to increased assay sensitivity if the nucleic acid probe can form a duplex with target nucleotides, which can be detected. In addition, the nucleic acid probe may include additional nucleotides to stabilize the formed duplex. Another Neisseria sequence can also be useful as a marker to detect the duplex formed. For example, a non-complementary nucleotide sequence can bind at the 5 ’end of the probe, with the rest of the probe being

20 complementary to a sequence of Neisseria. As an alternative, non-complementary bases or longer sequences may be introduced into the probe, provided that the sequence of the probe has sufficient complementarity with the Neisseria sequence to hybridize with it and thus form a duplex that can be detected.

The exact length and sequence of the probe will depend on hybridization conditions, such as temperature,

25 saline conditions and the like. For example, for diagnostic applications, depending on the complexity of the analyte sequence, the nucleic acid probe normally contains at least 10-20 nucleotides, preferably 15-25, and more preferably at least 30 nucleotides, although it may be shorter than this. Short primers generally require lower temperatures to form hybrid complexes sufficiently stable with the mold.

30 Probes can be produced by synthetic methods, such as the Triester method of Matteucci et al. [J. Am. Chem. Soc. (1981) 103: 3185], or according to Urdea et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1983) 80: 7461], or using commercially available automated oligonucleotide synthesizers.

The chemical nature of the probe can be selected according to preference. For some applications, DNA or RNA are appropriate. For other applications, modifications may be incorporated for example modifications in

The structure, such as phosphorothioates or methylphosphonates, can be used to increase half-life in vivo, alter affinity for RNA, increase nuclease resistance, etc. [for example see Agrawal and Lyer (1995) Curr Opin Biotenchnol 6: 12-19; Agrawal (1996) TIBTECH 14: 376-387]; analogs such as peptide nucleic acids can also be used [eg see Corey (1997) TIBTECH 15: 224-229, Buchardt et al. (1993) TIBTECH 11: 384386].

Alternatively, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is another well known method of detecting small amounts of target nucleic acids. The essay is described in: Mullis et al [Meth. Enzymol (1987) 155: 335-350]; in US Pat. 4,683,195; and 4,683,202. Two "primer" nucleotides hybridize with the target nucleic acids and are used to initiate the reaction. The primers may comprise sequence that does not hybridize with the amplification target sequence (or with its complement) to aid duplex stability or, by

For example, to incorporate a suitable restriction site. Typically, such a sequence will flank the desired Neisseria sequence.

A thermostable polymerase creates copies of target nucleic acids from the primers using the original target nucleic acids as a template. After a threshold amount of target nucleic acids is generated by polymerase, they can be detected by more conventional methods, such as transfers

50 Southern. When the Southern blot procedure is used, the labeled probe will hybridize with the Neisseria sequence (or its complement).

In addition, mRNA or cDNA can be detected by traditional transfer techniques described in Sambrook et al. [above]. The mRNA, or cDNA generated from mRNA using an enzyme polymerase, can be purified and separated using gel electrophoresis. The nucleic acids in the gel are then transferred to

55 a solid support, such as nitrocellulose. The solid support is exposed to a labeled probe and then washed to remove the probe without hybridizing. Next, duplexes containing the labeled probe are detected. Typically, the probe is labeled with a radioactive moiety.

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Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows biochemical data and sequence analysis belonging to Example 1 with ORF 40. M1 and M2 are molecular weight markers. The arrows indicate the position of the main recombinant product. In the bactericidal test the results: a diamond (♦) shows preimmune data; a triangle (A) shows data of GST control; a circle (●) shows data with the recombinant protein of N. meningitidis. Computerized analyzes show a hydrophilicity chart (upper), an antigenic index chart (middle) and an analysis of AMPHI regions (lower). The AMPHI program has been used to predict T cell epitopes [Gao et al. (1989) J. Immunol. 143: 3007; Roberts et al. (1996) AIDS Res Hum Retrovir 12: 593; Quakyi et al. (1992) Scand J Immunol supl. 11: 9] and is available in the Protean program package of DNASTAR, Inc (1228 South Park Street,

10 Madison, Wisconsin 53715 USA).

Example

The example describes nucleic acid sequences that have been identified in N. meningitidis along with their supposed translation products. Not all nucleic acid sequences are complete, that is, they encode less of the wild-type protein in its total length. It is currently believed that none of the sequences of

15 DNAs described herein have significant homologues in N. gonorrhoeae.

The example is in the following format:

•

 a nucleotide sequence that has been identified in N. meningitidis (strain B)

•

 the supposed translation product of this sequence

•

 a computerized analysis of the translation product based on comparisons with databases

20 • a corresponding genetic and protein sequence identified in N. meningitidis (strain A)

•

 a description of the characteristics of the proteins that indicate that it can be adequately antigenic

•

 Results of the biochemical analysis (expression, purification, ELISA, FACS, etc.)

The example includes details of sequence homology between species and strains. Proteins that are similar in sequence are generally similar in structure and function, and homology often indicates an origin.

25 evolutionary common. Comparison with protein sequences of known function is widely used as a guide for assigning the supposed function of the protein to a new sequence and has been shown to be particularly useful in complete genome analyzes.

Sequence comparisons were made at NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov) using the BLAST, BLAST2, BLASTn, BLASTp, tBLASTn, BLASTx and tBLASTx algorithms [see for example Altschul et al. (1997) Gapped BLAST

30 and PSI-BLAST: a new generation or protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Research 25: 2289-3402]. The searches were performed against the following databases: Gen-Bank + EMBL + DDBJ + PDB non-redundant sequences and GenBank CDS translations + PBD + SwissProt + SPupdate + PIR non-redundant sequences.

The points within the nucleotide sequences (none present in the example) would represent nucleotides that have been arbitrarily introduced to maintain a reading frame. Similarly, the

35 double underlined nucleotides (eg residue 40 in SEQ ID 1). The lowercase letters (for example, position 346 in SEQ ID 1) represent ambiguities that arise during the alignment of independent sequencing reactions (some of the nucleotide sequences in the examples derive from combining the results of two or more experiments).

Nucleotide sequences were scanned in the six reading frames to predict the presence of domains.

40 hydrophobes using an algorithm based on the statistical studies of Esposti et al. [Critical evaluation of the hydropathy of membrane proteins (1990) Eur J Biochem 190: 207-219]. These domains represent potential transmembrane regions or hydrophobic leader sequences.

Open reading frames were predicted from fragmented nucleotide sequences using the ORFFINDER (NCBI) program.

Various tests can be used to assess in vivo the immunogenicity of the proteins identified in the examples. For example, proteins can be expressed recombinantly and used to select the sera of patients by immunoblot. A positive reaction between the protein and the patient's serum indicates that the patient has previously generated an immune response for the protein in question, that is, the protein is an immunogen. This procedure can also be used to identify immunodominant proteins.

The recombinant protein can also be conveniently used to prepare antibodies for example in a mouse. These can be used for direct confirmation that a protein is located on the cell surface.

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The labeled antibody (eg fluorescent labeling for FACS) can be incubated with the bacteria intact and the presence of the marker on the bacterial surface confirms the location of the protein.

In particular, the following procedures (A) to (P) were used to express, purify and biochemically characterize the proteins of the invention.

A) Preparation of Chromosomal DNA

Strain 2996 of N. meningitidis was grown to an exponential phase in 100 ml of GC medium, collected by centrifugation and resuspended in 5 ml of buffer (20% sucrose, 50 mM Tris-HCl, 50 mM EDTA, pH 8 , 0). After 10 minutes of incubation on ice, the bacteria were lysed by adding 10 ml of lysis solution (50 mM NaCl, 1% Na-Sarkosyl, 50 µg / ml K proteinase) and the suspension was incubated at 37 ° C for 2 hours. 2 phenol extractions (equilibrated at pH 8) and one extraction with CHCl3 / isoamyl alcohol (24: 1) were performed. The DNA was precipitated by the addition of 0.3 M sodium acetate and 2 volumes of ethanol, and collected by centrifugation. The pellet was washed once with 70% ethanol and redissolved in 4 ml of buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, 1 mM EDTA, pH 8). The DNA concentration was measured by reading the OD at 260 nm.

B) Oligonucleotide Design

Synthetic oligonucleotide primers were designed based on the coding sequence of each ORF, using

(a) the meningococcal sequence B when available or (b) the gonococcal / meningococcal sequence A, adapted for the preferred use of the meningococcal codon as necessary. Predicted signal peptides were omitted, deducting the 5 'primers for the sequence immediately downstream in the chain from the predicted leader sequence.

The 5 'primers included two restriction enzyme recognition sites (BamHI-NdeI, BamHI-NheIo EcoRI-NheI, depending on the restriction pattern of the gene of interest); 3 ’primers included an XhoI restriction site. This procedure was established to direct the cloning of each amplification product (corresponding to each ORF) into two different expression systems: pGEX-KG (using BamHI-XhoIo EcoRI-XhoI) and pET21 b + (using NdeI-XhoIo NheI-XhoI) .

5 'end primer tail: CGCGGATCCCATATG (BamHI-Ndel)

CGCGGATCCCGCTAGC (BamHI-Nhel)

CCGGAATTCTAGCTAGC (EcoRI-NheI)

3 'end primer tail: CCCGCTCGAG (XhoI)

In addition to containing the restriction enzyme recognition sequences, the primers included nucleotides that hybridized with the sequence to be amplified. The number of nucleotides that hybridized depended on the melting temperature of the complete primer, and was determined for each primer using the formulas:

Tf = 4 (G + C) + 2 (A + T) (excluding tail)

Tf = 64.9 + 0.41 (% GC) - 600 / N (complete primer)

The average melting temperature of the selected oligos was 65-70 ° C for the complete oligo and 50-55 ° C for the hybridization region alone.

Table I shows the primers in the direct and reverse directions used for amplification. The oligonucleotides were synthesized using a Perkin Elmer 394 DNA / RNA synthesizer, eluted from the columns in 2 ml of NH4OH and deprotected by 5 hours of incubation at 56 ° C. The oligos precipitated by the addition of 0.3 M sodium acetate and 2 volumes of ethanol. The samples were centrifuged and the sediments were resuspended in 100 µl or in 1.0 ml of water. The OD260 was determined using a Perkin Elmer Lambda Bio spectrophotometer and the concentration was adjusted to 2-10 pmol / μl.

C) Amplification

The conventional PCR protocol was as follows: 50-200 ng of genomic DNA was used as a template in the presence of 20-40 μM of each oligo, dNTP solution 400-800 μM, 1x PCR buffer (including MgCl2 1.5 mM), 2.5 units of TaqI DNA polymerase (using Perkin Elmer AmpliTaQ, GIBCO Platinum, Pwo DNA polymerase, or Taq Shuzo Taq polymerase).

In some cases, the PCR was optimized by adding 10 μl of DMSO or 50 μl of 2M betaine.

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After a hot start (adding the polymerase during a 3-minute preliminary incubation of the entire mixture at 95 ° C), each sample underwent a two-stage amplification. The first 5 cycles were performed using the hybridization temperature that excluded the tail of the restriction enzymes from the primer, followed by 30 cycles performed according to the hybridization temperature of the full-length oligos. The cycles were completed with a final extension stage of 10 minutes at 72 ° C.

Conventional cycles were as follows:

Denaturalization

Hybridization Elongation

First 5 cycles

30 seconds 30 seconds 30-60 seconds

95 ° C

50-55 ° C 72 ° C

Last 30 cycles

30 seconds 95 ° C 30 seconds 65-70 ° C 30-60 seconds 72 ºC

Elongation times varied according to the length of the ORF to be amplified.

The amplifications were performed using a Perkin Elmer GeneAmp PCR 9600 system or a Perkin Elmer GeneAmp PCR 2400 system. To verify the results, 1/10 of the amplification volume was loaded on a 1-1.5% agarose gel (p / v) and the size of each amplified fragment was compared with a DNA molecular weight marker.

The amplified DNA was directly loaded on a 1% agarose gel or first precipitated with ethanol and resuspended in a volume suitable for loading on a 1.0% agarose gel. The DNA fragment corresponding to the correct size band was then eluted and purified from the gel, using the Qiagen Gel Extraction kit, following the manufacturer's protocol. The volume of the DNA fragment was 30 μl or 50 μl of water or 10 mM Tris, pH 8.5.

D) Digestion of PCR fragments

The purified DNA corresponding to the amplified fragment was separated into 2 aliquots and digested twice with:

-NdeI / XhoIo NheI / XhoI to clone in pET-21 b + and subsequent protein expression as a His-tag C terminal fusion.

-BamHI / XhoIo EcoRI / XhoI to clone in pGEX-KG and subsequent protein expression as a GST N terminal fusion.

-EcoRI / PstI, EcoRI / SalI, SalI / PstI to clone in pGex-His and subsequent protein expression as a Histag N terminal fusion.

Each purified DNA fragment was incubated (37 ° C for 3 hours overnight) with 20 units of each restriction enzyme (New England Biolabs) in a final volume of 30 or 40 µl in the presence of the appropriate buffer. The digested fragments were then purified using the QIAguick PCR purification kit following the manufacturer's instructions and eluted in a final volume of 30 µl or 50 µl of water or 10 mM Tris, pH 8.5. The final DNA concentration was determined by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis in the presence of a valued molecular weight marker.

E) Digestion of cloning vectors (pET22B, pGEX-KG, pTRC-His A and pGEX-His)

10 μg of plasmid was digested twice with 50 units of each restriction enzyme in 200 μl of reaction volume in the presence of the appropriate buffer by overnight incubation at 37 ° C. After loading all the digestion in a 1% agarose gel, the band corresponding to the digested vector was purified from the gel using the Qiaquick Gel Extraction kit from Qiagen and the DNA was eluted in 50 µl of Tris-HCl 10 mM, pH 8.5. The DNA concentration was evaluated by measuring the OD260 of the sample and adjusted to 50 µg / µl. 1 µl of plasmid was used for each cloning procedure.

The pGEX-His vector is a modified pGEX-2T vector that carries a region that encodes six histidine residues upstream of the thrombin cleavage site and that contains the multiple cloning site of the pTRC99 vector (Pharmacia).

F) Cloning Fragments corresponding to each ORF, previously digested and purified, were joined in pET22b and pGEX-KG. In a final volume of 20 μl, a molar ratio of 3: 1 fragment / vector was attached using 0.5 μl of T4 DNA ligase NEB (400 units / μl), in the presence of the buffer supplied by the manufacturer. The reaction was incubated at room temperature for 3 hours. In some experiments, the binding was performed using the “Rapid Ligation Kit”

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5 from Boheringer, following the manufacturer's instructions.

To introduce the recombinant plasmid into a suitable strain, 100 µl of E. coli DH5 competent cells were incubated with the ligase reaction solution for 40 minutes on ice, then at 37 ° C for 3 minutes, subsequently, after adding 800 μl of LB broth, again at 37 ° C for 20 minutes. The cells were then centrifuged at maximum speed in an Eppendorf microcentrifuge and resuspended in

10 approximately 200 μl of the supernatant. The suspension was then plated in ampicillin LB (100 mg / ml).

Recombinant clones were selected by culturing 5 randomly selected colonies overnight at 37 ° C in 2 ml (pGEX or pTC clones) or in 5 ml (pET clones) in LB broth + 100 μg / ml ampicillin. The cells were then centrifuged and the DNA was extracted using the Qiagen QIAprep Spin Miniprep kit, following the manufacturer's instructions, to a final volume of 30 μl. 5 μl of each individual mini-preparation was digested

15 (approximately 1 g) with NdeI / XhoI or with BamHI / XhoI and the complete digestion was loaded on an 11.5% agarose gel (depending on the expected insert size), in parallel with the molecular weight marker (DNA Ladder of 1 kb, GIBCO). The selection of positive clones was made according to the correct insert size.

G) Expression

Each ORF cloned in the expression vector was transformed into the strain suitable for the expression of the product of

20 recombinant protein. 1 µl of each construct was used to transform 30 µl of E. coli BL21 (pGEX vector), E. coli TOP 10 (pTRC vector) or E. coli BL21-DE3 (pET) as described above. In the case of the pGEX-His vector, the same strain of E. coli (W3110) was used for initial cloning and expression. Single recombinant colonies were inoculated into 2 ml of LB + Amp (100 μg / ml), incubated at 37 ° C overnight, then diluted 1:30 in 20 ml of LB + Amp (100 μg / ml) in flasks 100 ml, ensuring that the DO600 varied between

25 0.1 and 0.15. Flasks were incubated at 30 ° C in rotary water bath stirrers until the OD indicated an exponential growth suitable for induction of expression (OD 0.4-0.8 for pET and pTRC vectors; OD 0.8- 1 for pGEX and pGEX-His vectors). For the pET, pTRC and pGEXHis vectors, protein expression was induced by adding 1 mM IPTG, while in the case of the pGEX system the final concentration of IPTG was 0.2 mM. After 3 hours of incubation at 30 ° C, the final concentration of the sample was checked by means of

30 DO. To check the expression, 1 ml of each sample was extracted, centrifuged in a microcentrifuge, the pellet was resuspended in PBS and analyzed by 12% SDS-PAGE with Coomassie blue staining. The entire sample was centrifuged at 6,000 g and the pellet was resuspended in PBS for later use.

H) Large-scale purification of GST fusion proteins

A single colony was grown overnight at 37 ° C on LB + Amp agar plate. The bacteria were inoculated in 20

35 ml of LB + Amp liquid culture in a shaking water bath and were grown overnight. The bacteria were diluted 1:30 in 600 ml of fresh medium and allowed to grow at the optimum temperature (20-37 ° C) to an OD550 of 0.8-1. Protein expression was induced with 0.2 mM IPTG followed by 3 hours incubation. The culture was centrifuged at 8000 rpm at 4 ° C. The supernatant was discarded and the bacterial pellet was resuspended in 7.5 ml of cold PBS. The cells were broken by sonication on ice for 30 seconds at 40 W using a

40 Branson B-15 sonicator, frozen and thawed twice and centrifuged again. The supernatant was collected and mixed with 150 µl of Glutation-Sepharose 4B resin (Pharmacia) (previously washed with PBS) and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes. The sample was centrifuged at 700 g for 5 minutes at 4 ° C. The resin was washed twice with 10 ml of cold PBS for 10 minutes, resuspended in 1 ml of cold PBS, and loaded onto a disposable column. The resin was washed twice with 2 ml of cold PBS until the flow through it

45 reached an OD280 of 0.02-0.06. The GST fusion protein was eluted by the addition of 700 µl of 10 mM cold glutathione elution buffer reduced with glutathione, 50 mM Tris-HCl) and the fractions were collected until the OD280 was 0.1. 21 µl of each fraction was loaded on a 12% SDS gel using the broad spectrum (M1) Biorad SDS-PAGE molecular weight standard (200, 116.25, 97.4, 66.2, 45, 31 , 21.5, 14.4, 6.5 kDa) or the Amersham Rainbow Marker (M2) marker (200, 66, 46, 30, 21.5, 14.3 kDa) as standards. As the GST PM is 26

50 kDa, this value must be added to the PM of each GST fusion protein.

I) His fusion protein solubility analysis

To analyze the solubility of the His fusion expression products, the sediments obtained from 3 ml cultures were resuspended in M1 buffer [500 µL PBS, pH 7.2]. 25 μl of lysozyme (10 mg / ml) was added and the bacteria were incubated for 15 minutes at 4 ° C. The sediments were sonicated for 30 seconds 55 to 400 W using a Branson B-15 sonicator, frozen and thawed twice and then separated again in sediment and supernatant by means of a centrifugation step. The supernatant was collected and the pellet was resuspended in M2 buffer [8 M urea, 0.5 M NaCl, 20 mM imidazole and 0.1 M NaH2PO4] and incubated for 3 to 4 hours at 4 ° C. After centrifugation, the supernatant was collected and the pellet was resuspended

image15

in M3 buffer [6 M guanidinium-HCl, 0.5 M NaCl, 20 mM imidazole and 0.1 M NaH2PO4] overnight at 4 ° C. Supernatants from all stages were analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

J) Large-scale purification of His fusion proteins.

A single colony was grown overnight at 37 ° C on an LB + Amp agar plate. The bacteria were inoculated

5 in 20 ml of LB + Amp liquid culture and incubated overnight in a water bath shaker. The bacteria were diluted 1:30 in 600 ml of fresh medium and allowed to grow at the optimum temperature (20-37 ° C) at an OD550 of 0.6-0.8. Protein expression was induced by the addition of 1 mM IPTG and the culture was further incubated for three hours. The culture was centrifuged at 8000 rpm at 4 ° C, the supernatant was discarded and the bacterial pellet was resuspended in 7.5 ml of cold (i) buffer A (300 mM NaCl, 50 mM phosphate buffer, 10 mM imidazole, pH

10 8) for soluble proteins or (ii) buffer B (8M urea, 10 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM phosphate buffer, pH 8.8) for insoluble proteins.

The cells were broken by sonication on ice for 30 seconds at 40 W using a Branson B-15 sonicator, frozen and thawed twice and centrifuged again.

For insoluble proteins, the supernatant was stored at -20 ° C, suspending the sediments in 2 ml of buffer C

15 (6 M guanidine hydrochloride, 100 mM phosphate buffer, 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5) and treated in a homogenizer for ten cycles. The product was centrifuged at 13000 rpm for 40 minutes.

The supernatants were collected and mixed with 150 µl of Ni2 + resin (Pharmacia) (previously washed with buffer A or buffer B, as appropriate) and incubated at room temperature with gentle stirring for 30 minutes. The sample was centrifuged at 700 g for 5 minutes at 4 ° C. The resin was washed twice with 10 ml of

20 buffer A or B for 10 minutes, was resuspended in 1 ml of buffer A or B and loaded onto a disposable column. The resin was washed (i) at 4 ° C with 2 ml of cold buffer A or (ii) at room temperature with 2 ml of buffer B, until the flow through it reached an OD280 of 0.02-0.06.

The resin was washed with (i) 2 ml of cold 20 mM imidazole buffer (300 mM NaCl, 50 mM phosphate buffer, 20 mM imidazole, pH 8) or (ii) D buffer (8 M urea, 10 mM Tris-HCl , 100 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.3) until the flow through it

25 reached OD280 of 0.02-0.06. The His fusion protein was eluted by the addition of 700 µl of (i) cold A elution buffer (300 mM NaCl, 50 mM phosphate buffer, 250 mM imidazole, pH 8) or (ii) elution buffer B (urea 8 M, 10 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM phosphate buffer, pH 4.5) and the fractions were collected until the OD280 was 0.1. 21 µl of each fraction was loaded on a 12% SDS gel.

K) Rendering of His fusion proteins

30 10% glycerol was added to the denatured proteins. The proteins were then diluted to 20 μg / ml using dialysis buffer I (10% glycerol, 0.5 M arginine, 50 mM phosphate buffer, 5 mM reduced glutathione, 0.5 mM oxidized glutathione, 2 M urea, pH 8.8) and dialyzed again against the same buffer for 12-14 hours at 4 ° C. The protein was dialyzed again against dialysis buffer II (10% glycerol, 0.5 M arginine, 50 mM phosphate buffer, 5 mM reduced glutathione, 0.5 mM oxidized glutathione, pH 8.8) for 12-14 hours at 4 ° C. The

Protein concentration was evaluated using the following formula:

Protein (mg / ml) = (1.55 x DO280) - (0.76 x DO260)

L) Large-scale purification of His fusion proteins

500 ml of bacterial cultures were induced and the soluble fusion proteins in buffer M1, M2 or M3 were obtained using the procedure described above. The crude extracts were loaded on a superflow column

40 Ni-NTA (Quiagen) equilibrated with buffer M1, M2 or M3 according to the solubilization buffer of the fusion proteins. Unbound material was eluted by washing the column with the same buffer. The specific protein was eluted with the corresponding buffer containing 500 mM imidazole and dialyzed against the corresponding buffer without imidazole. After each process the columns were sanitized by washing with at least two column volumes of 0.5 M sodium hydroxide and equilibrating again before the next use.

45 M) Immunizations of mice

20 μg of each purified protein was used to immunize mice intraperitoneally. CD1 mice were immunized with Freund's adjuvant on days 1, 21 and 42 and the immune response was monitored in the samples taken on day 42.

N) ELISA test (analysis of the sera)

50 The non-encapsulated M7 strain of MenB was placed on chocolate agar plates and incubated overnight at 37 ° C. Bacterial colonies were collected from the agar plates using a sterile dacron swab and inoculated into 7 ml of Mueller-Hinton broth (Difco) containing 0.25% glucose. Bacterial growth was monitored every 30 minutes following the DO620. The bacteria were allowed to grow until the OD reached the value of 0.3-0.4. Cultivation

image16

It was centrifuged for 10 minutes at 10,000 rpm. The supernatant was discarded and the bacteria washed once with PBS, resuspended in PBS containing 0.025% formaldehyde and incubated for 2 hours at room temperature and then overnight at 4 ° C with stirring. 100 µl of bacterial cells were added to each well of a 96-well Greiner plate and incubated overnight at 4 ° C. The wells were then washed three times with PBT wash buffer (0.1% Tween 20 in PBS). 200 µl of saturation buffer (2.7% polyvinylpyrrolidone 10 in water) was added to each well and the plates were incubated for 2 hours at 37 ° C. The wells were washed three times with PBT. 200 µl of diluted serum (dilution buffer: 1% BSA, 0.1% Tween 20, 0.1% NaN3 in PBS) was added to each well and the plates were incubated for 90 minutes at 37 ° C. The wells were washed three times with PBT. 100 µl of conjugated rabbit anti-mouse serum was added

10 with HRP (Dako) diluted 1: 2000 in dilution buffer to each well and the plates were incubated for 90 minutes at 37 ° C. The wells were washed three times with PBT buffer. 100 µl of HRP substrate buffer (25 ml of pH 5 citrate buffer, 10 mg of O-phenylenediamine and 10 µl of H2O) was added to each well and the plates were left at room temperature for 20 minutes. 100 µl of H2SO4 was added to each well and the OD490 was followed. The ELISA test was considered positive when the OD490 was 2.5 times that of the respective preimmune sera.

15 O) FACScan Bacteria Binding Test Procedure

The encapsulated MenB M7 strain was plated on chocolate agar plates and incubated overnight at 37 ° C. Bacterial colonies were collected from the agar plates using a sterile drach swab and inoculated into 4 tubes containing 8 ml each of Mueller-Hinton broth (Difco) containing 0.25% glucose. Bacterial growth was monitored every 30 minutes following the DO620. The bacteria were allowed to grow until the 20 OD reached the value of 0.35-0.5. The culture was centrifuged for 10 minutes at 4,000 rpm. The supernatant was discarded and the pellet was resuspended in blocking buffer (1% BSA, 0.4% NaN3) and centrifuged for 5 minutes at 4,000 rpm. The cells were resuspended in blocking buffer to reach OD620 of 0.07. 100 µl of bacterial cells were added to each well of a 96-well Costar plate. 100 µl of diluted serum (1: 200) (in blocking buffer) was added to each well and the plates were incubated for 2 hours at 4 ° C. The 25 cells were centrifuged for 5 minutes at 4,000 rpm, the supernatant was aspirated and the cells were washed by the addition of 200 µl / well of blocking buffer in each well. 100 µl of F (ab) 2 conjugate with goat anti-mouse Rficoeritrin, diluted to 1: 100, was added to each well and the plates were incubated for one hour at 4 ° C. The cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 4,000 rpm for 5 minutes and washed by adding 200 µl / well of blocking buffer. The supernatant was aspirated and the cells were resuspended in 200 μl / well of

30 PBS, 0.25% formaldehyde. The samples were transferred to FACScan tubes and read. The conditions for the FASCan adjustment were: FL1 activated, FL2 and FL3 deactivated, FSC-H threshold: 92; FSC PMT voltage: E 02; SSC PMT: 474; amplitude increases 7.1; FL-2 PMT: 539; compensation values: 0.

P) Bactericidal assay

Strain MC58 was grown overnight at 37 ° C in chocolate agar plates. 5-7 colonies were collected and

35 used to inoculate 7 ml of Mueller-Hinton broth. The suspension was incubated at 37 ° C in a nutator mixer and allowed to grow until the OD620 was 0.5-0.8. The culture was divided into aliquots in sterile 1.5 ml Eppendorf tubes and centrifuged for 20 minutes at maximum speed in a microcentrifuge. The sediment was washed once in Gey buffer (Gibco) and resuspended in the same buffer to an OD620 of 0.5, diluted to 1: 20,000 in Gey buffer and stored at 25 ° C.

40 50 µl of 1% Gey / BSA buffer was added to each well of a 96-well tissue culture plate. 25 μl of diluted mouse sera (1: 100 in Gey buffer / 0.2% BSA) was added to each well and the plate was incubated at 4 ° C. 25 µl of the bacterial suspension described above was added to each well. 25 µl of heat-inactivated rabbit breeding complement (56 ° C water bath for 30 minutes) or normal was added to each well. Immediately after the addition of the rabbit breeding complement, 22 μl of

45 each sample / well in Mueller-Hinton agar plates (time 0). The 96-well plate was incubated for 1 hour at 37 ° C with rotation and then 22 µl of each sample / well was plated on Mueller-Hinton agar plates (time 1). After an overnight incubation, the colonies corresponding to time 0 and time 1 were counted.

Table II gives a summary of the results of cloning, expression and purification.

50 Example 1

The following partial DNA sequence was identified in <SEQ ID 1> of N. meningitidis:

image17

This corresponds to the amino acid sequence <SEQ ID 2; ORF40>:

image18

Additional work has revealed the complete DNA sequence <SEQ ID 3>: This corresponds to the amino acid sequence <SEQ ID 4; ORF40-1>:

image19

image20

image21

Additional work identified the corresponding gene in strain N. of meningitidis <SEQ ID 5>: This encodes a protein that has the amino acid sequence <SEQ ID 6; ORF40a>:

image22

image23

The partial sequence of strain B originally identified (ORF40) shows an identity of 65.7% over an overlap of 254 aa with ORF40a:

image24

The complete sequence of strain B (ORF40-1) and ORF40a show an 83.7% identity in an overlap of 601 aa:

image25

image26

Computerized analysis of these amino acid sequences gave the following results:

Homology with the Hsf protein encoded by the locus of type B surface fibrils (accession number U41852) ORF40 and the Hsf protein show a 54% identity in a 251 aa overlap:

image27

image28

ORF40a also shows homology with Hsf: gi I 1666683 (U41852) product of the hsf [Haemophilus influenzae] gene Length = 2353 Score = 153 (67.7 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1 , 5 e-116 Identities = 33/36 (91%), Positive = 34/36 (94%)

image29

Score = 161 (71.2 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1.5 e-116 Identities = 32/38 (84%), Positive = 36/38 (94%)

image30

Score = 110 (48.7 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1.5 e-116 Identities = 21/29 (72%), Positive = 25/29 (86%)

image31

Score = 85 (37.6 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1.5 e-116 Identities = 18/32 (56%), Positive = 20/32 (62%)

image32

Subject:

20 Score = 92 (40.7 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1.5 e-116 Identities = 16/19 (84%), Positive = 19/19 (100% )

image33

Score = 90 (39.8 bits), Expected = 1.5 e-116, Sum P (11) = 1.5 e-116 25 Identities = 17/28 (60%), Positive = 20/28 (71% )

image34

image35

image36

Based on the homology with Hsf, it was predicted that this N. meningitidis protein, and its epitopes, could be useful for vaccines or for diagnosis.

The ORF40-1 (61 kDa) was cloned into the pET and pGex vectors and expressed in E. coli, as described above.

5 Protein expression and purification products were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Figure 1A shows the results of affinity purification of the His fusion protein, and Figure 1B shows the results of GST fusion protein expression in E. coli. His fusion protein was used to immunize mice, whose sera were used for FACS analysis (Figure 1C), a bactericidal assay (Figure 1D), and ELISA (positive result). These experiments confirm that ORF40-1 is a surface exposed protein, and that it is a useful immunogen.

10 Figure 1E shows graphical representations of hydrophilicity, antigen index and AMPHI regions for ORF40-1.

TABLE I - PCR primers

ORF

Primer Sequence Restriction sites

ORF40

Inverse Direct BamHI-NdeI XhoI

TABLE II - Cloning, expression and purification

ORF

PCR / cloning His fusion expression GST Fusion Expression Purification

orf 40

+ + + His fusion

Claims (61)

image 1 1. A protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or higher with SEQ ID No. 2, with the proviso that said protein is not (i) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (ii) a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, 5 (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID NO: 7; or (iv) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 in which one amino acid is substituted by a different amino acid. 2. A protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 95% or greater with SEQ ID No. 4, with the proviso that said protein is not (i) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (ii) a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, 10 (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID NO: 7; or (iv) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 in which one amino acid is substituted by a different amino acid. 3. The protein of claim 1, which comprises an amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2. 4. The protein of claim 3, comprising an amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 90% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2.

5.

The protein of claim 4, comprising an amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 95% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2.

6.

The protein of claim 5, which comprises an amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 99% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2

The protein of claim 2, which comprises an amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 99% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 4.

8.

The protein of claim 1, which comprises the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 2.

9.

The protein of claim 1, which comprises the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 4.

10.

 The protein of claim 1, which comprises the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 6.

11. A protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID NO: 2, provided that said protein is not (i) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (ii) a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID No. 7; or (iv) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7 in which an amino acid is substituted by a 30 different amino acid.

12.

 The protein of claim 11, wherein said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID NO: 2.

13.

 The protein of claim 11, which comprises a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 2.

14.

 The protein of any of the preceding claims, wherein the protein is a fusion protein.

15. The protein of any of the preceding claims, which is prepared by recombinant expression.

16.

 The protein of any one of claims 1 to 14, which is prepared by purification from cell culture.

17.

 An antibody that binds to:

40 (a) a protein consisting of an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 3, provided that said protein is not (i) a protein having the sequence of amino acids SEQ ID No. 7, (ii) a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID No. 7; or (iv) a protein having an amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 in which one amino acid is substituted by a different amino acid; 45 (b) a protein consisting of an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 95% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 4, provided that said protein is not (i) a protein having the sequence of amino acids SEQ ID No. 7, (ii) a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID No. 7; or (iv) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 in which one amino acid is substituted by a different amino acid; or image2

(C)

a protein consisting of a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID NO: 2, provided that said protein is not (i) a protein that has the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7,

(ii)

 a protein that includes the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 7, (iii) a fragment of SEQ ID No. 7; or (iv) a protein having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 in which one amino acid is substituted by a different amino acid.

18.

 The antibody of claim 17, which is monoclonal.

19.

 The antibody of claim 17, which is polyclonal.

twenty.

 A nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

twenty-one.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 20, comprising a fragment of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 3 and 5.

22

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 12 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

2. 3.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 14 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

24.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 15 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

25.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 18 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

26.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

27.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 25 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

28.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 30 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

29.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 35 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

30

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising a fragment of at least 40 consecutive nucleotides of a nucleotide sequence in said group.

31.

 The nucleic acid molecule of claim 21, comprising the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 3.

32

 The nucleic acid molecule of any one of claims 20 to 31, which is DNA.

33.

 A vector comprising the nucleic acid of any one of claims 20 to 32.

3. 4.

 The vector of claim 33, which is an expression vector.

35

A bacterial expression vector encoding (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2 or (ii) a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 amino acids consecutive amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2, wherein said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID No. 2; in which the vector includes a Shine-Dalgarno sequence.

36.

 The vector of claim 34 or claim 35, wherein the vector may be integrated into a bacterial genome.

37.

A bacterial expression vector encoding (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2 or (ii) a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 amino acids consecutive amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2 in which said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID No. 2; in which the vector is an integration vector that can be integrated into a bacterial genome.

38.

The vector of claim 36 or claim 37, wherein the vector includes a selectable marker to allow selection of a bacterial strain that has been transformed.

39.

 The vector of claim 38, wherein the selectable marker is a gene that makes the bacterium resistant to a drug selected from the group consisting of: ampicillin; chloramphenicol; erythromycin; Kanamycin; neomycin; and tetracycline.

40

 A host cell transformed with a vector of any one of claims 33 to 39.

image3 The host cell of claim 40, which is a bacterium, a yeast or a mammalian cell.

42

 The host cell of claim 41, which is a bacterium.

43

 The host cell of claim 42, wherein the bacterium is an E. coli.

44.

A bacterial host cell transformed with a vector encoding (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2 or (ii)

10 a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2 in which said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID No. 2; with the proviso that the host cell is not a Salmonella or an E. coli. 45. The host cell of any one of claims 42 to 44, wherein the vector includes a bacterial promoter. 46. The host cell of claim 45, wherein the bacterial promoter is from a metabolic pathway enzyme.

47

The host cell of any one of claims 42 to 46, wherein the vector is an integration vector that can be integrated into the bacterial genome.

48.

A composition comprising a protein, a nucleic acid molecule, or an antibody according to any one of claims 1 to 32.

A composition according to claim 48, which is a vaccine composition or a diagnostic composition.

fifty.

 The composition of claim 49, which is a vaccine composition.

51.

 A composition according to claim 49, for use as a medicament.

52. The composition of any one of claims 48 to 51, which includes a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

53.

 The composition of claim 52, wherein the vehicle comprises a polysaccharide.

54

 The composition of claim 52, wherein the vehicle comprises saline solution.

55.

 The composition of claim 52, wherein the vehicle comprises a pH buffer substance.

56.

 A composition comprising: (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with

A sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID No. 2 or a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2 in which said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID NO. 2; and (ii) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier comprising saline solution, a polysaccharide, a polylactic acid, a polyglycolic acid or a pH buffering substance. 57. The composition of any one of claims 48 to 56, prepared as an injectable.

58.

 The composition of any one of claims 48 to 56, prepared as a solid form suitable for dissolution in, or suspension in, a liquid vehicle before injection.

59.

 A composition comprising: (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2 or a protein comprising a fragment

40 of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2 in which said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID No. 2; and (ii) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, in which the composition is an injectable. 60. The composition of any one of claims 48 to 59, which includes an adjuvant. 61. The composition of claim 60, wherein the adjuvant is selected from: an aluminum salt; an oil-in-water emulsion; a saponin; or a cytokine.

62

 The composition of claim 61, wherein the adjuvant is an aluminum hydroxide or a phosphate salt

of aluminum. 40

63.

 A composition comprising: (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2 or a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the sequence of amino acids SEQ ID NO. 2 wherein said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID NO. 2; and (ii) an adjuvant selected from aluminum hydroxide,

image4 5 aluminum phosphate or aluminum sulfate.

64.

 The composition of any one of claims 48 to 51, which includes chitosan.

65

 The composition of any one of claims 48 to 51, which includes poly (lactide-co-glycolide).

66.

 The use of the protein of any one of claims 1 to 14, in the manufacture of a medicament for

the treatment or prevention of infection caused by Neisseria bacteria, in particular Neisseria 10 meningitidis. 67. The use of (i) a protein comprising an antigenic amino acid sequence with a sequence identity of 80% or greater with SEQ ID NO: 2, or (ii) a protein comprising a fragment of at least 20 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence SEQ ID No. 2 in which said fragment comprises an epitope of SEQ ID No. 2, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment or prevention of 15 infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis of serogroup B. 68. A method of producing the protein of any one of claims 1 to 14, comprising the step of culturing a host cell of any one of claims 40 to 47 under the conditions that induce protein expression. image5 FIGURE 1 image6 image7